The matter-neutrino resonance around thick disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deaton, Michael

2016-03-01

We are studying neutrino flavor transformations in typical neutron star merger environments. Here a dominance of νe over νe fluxes introduces transformation behaviors qualitatively different from those seen in supernovae. Discovered in thin disk models, the matter neutrino resonance (MNR) may behave differently around thick disks, or not appear at all. I'll present what we have learned about the MNR using a phenomenological model motivated by hydrodynamical simulations of post-merger disks. JINA-CEE.

Continuum Reverberation Mapping of AGN Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fausnaugh, Michael M.; Peterson, Bradley M.; Starkey, David A.; Horne, Keith; AGN Storm Collaboration

2017-12-01

We show recent detections of inter-band continuum lags in three AGN (NGC 5548, NGC 2617, and MCG+08-11-011), which provide new constraints on the temperature profiles and absolute sizes of the accretion disks. We find lags larger than would be predicted for standard geometrically thin, optically thick accretion disks by factors of 2.3 to 3.3. For NGC 5548, the data span UV through optical/near-IR wavelengths, and we are able to discern a steeper temperature profile than the T˜ R^{-3/4} expected for a standard thin disk . Using a physical model, we are also able to estimate the inclinations of the disks for two objects. These results are similar to those found from gravitational microlensing of strongly lensed quasars, and provide a complementary approach for investigating the accretion disk structure in local, low luminsoity AGN.

Thin Disk Accretion in the Magnetically-Arrested State

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avara, Mark J.; McKinney, Jonathan; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2016-01-01

Shakura-Sunyaev thin disk theory is fundamental to black hole astrophysics. Though applications of the theory are wide-spread and powerful tools for explaining observations, such as Soltan's argument using quasar power, broadened iron line measurements, continuum fitting, and recently reverberation mapping, a significant large-scale magnetic field causes substantial deviations from standard thin disk behavior. We have used fully 3D general relativistic MHD simulations with cooling to explore the thin (H/R~0.1) magnetically arrested disk (MAD) state and quantify these deviations. This work demonstrates that accumulation of large-scale magnetic flux into the MAD state is possible, and then extends prior numerical studies of thicker disks, allowing us to measure how jet power scales with the disk state, providing a natural explanation of phenomena like jet quenching in the high-soft state of X-ray binaries. We have also simulated thin MAD disks with a misaligned black hole spin axis in order to understand further deviations from thin disk theory that may significantly affect observations.

Abundances of Copper and Zinc in Stars of the Galactic Thin and Thick Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorbaneva, T. I.; Mishenina, T. V.; Basak, N. Yu.; Soubiran, C.; Kovtyukh, V. V.

The spectra of studied stars were obtained with the ELODIE spectrograph at the 1.93-m telescope of the Observatoire de Haute Provence (France). The determination of Cu and Zn abundances was carried out in LTE assumption by model atmosphere method, for Cu the hyperfine structure was taken into account. Cu and Zn abundance trends for thin and thick disk's stars are presented.

Microwave inversion of leaf area and inclination angle distributions from backscattered data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lang, R. H.; Saleh, H. A.

1985-01-01

The backscattering coefficient from a slab of thin randomly oriented dielectric disks over a flat lossy ground is used to reconstruct the inclination angle and area distributions of the disks. The disks are employed to model a leafy agricultural crop, such as soybeans, in the L-band microwave region of the spectrum. The distorted Born approximation, along with a thin disk approximation, is used to obtain a relationship between the horizontal-like polarized backscattering coefficient and the joint probability density of disk inclination angle and disk radius. Assuming large skin depth reduces the relationship to a linear Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. Due to the ill-posed nature of this equation, a Phillips-Twomey regularization method with a second difference smoothing condition is used to find the inversion. Results are obtained in the presence of 1 and 10 percent noise for both leaf inclination angle and leaf radius densities.

Optimizing a tandem disk model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Healey, J. V.

1983-08-01

The optimum values of the solidity ratio, tip speed ratio (TSR), and the preset angle of attack, the corresponding distribution, and the breakdown mechanism for a tandem disk model for a crosswind machine such as a Darrieus are examined analytically. Equations are formulated for thin blades with zero drag in consideration of two plane rectangular disks, both perpendicular to the wind flow. Power coefficients are obtained for both disks and comparisons are made between a single-disk system and a two-disk system. The power coefficient for the tandem disk model is shown to be a sum of the coefficients of the individual disks, with a maximum value of twice the Betz limit at an angle of attack of -1 deg and the TSR between 4-7. The model, applied to the NACA 0012 profile, gives a maximum power coefficient of 0.967 with a solidity ratio of 0.275 and highly limited ranges for the angle of attack and TSR.

High average power scaleable thin-disk laser

DOEpatents

Beach, Raymond J.; Honea, Eric C.; Bibeau, Camille; Payne, Stephen A.; Powell, Howard; Krupke, William F.; Sutton, Steven B.

2002-01-01

Using a thin disk laser gain element with an undoped cap layer enables the scaling of lasers to extremely high average output power values. Ordinarily, the power scaling of such thin disk lasers is limited by the deleterious effects of amplified spontaneous emission. By using an undoped cap layer diffusion bonded to the thin disk, the onset of amplified spontaneous emission does not occur as readily as if no cap layer is used, and much larger transverse thin disks can be effectively used as laser gain elements. This invention can be used as a high average power laser for material processing applications as well as for weapon and air defense applications.

Inner Structure in the TW Hya Circumstellar Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akeson, Rachel L.; Millan-Gabet, R.; Ciardi, D.; Boden, A.; Sargent, A.; Monnier, J.; McAlister, H.; ten Brummelaar, T.; Sturmann, J.; Sturmann, L.; Turner, N.

2011-05-01

TW Hya is a nearby (50 pc) young stellar object with an estimated age of 10 Myr and signs of active accretion. Previous modeling of the circumstellar disk has shown that the inner disk contains optically thin material, placing this object in the class of "transition disks". We present new near-infrared interferometric observations of the disk material and use these data, as well as previously published, spatially resolved data at 10 microns and 7 mm, to constrain disk models based on a standard flared disk structure. Our model demonstrates that the constraints imposed by the spatially resolved data can be met with a physically plausible disk but this requires a disk containing not only an inner gap in the optically thick disk as previously suggested, but also some optically thick material within this gap. Our model is consistent with the suggestion by previous authors of a planet with an orbital radius of a few AU. This work was conducted at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, California Institute of Technology.

The Interplay between Radiation Pressure and the Photoelectric Instability in Optically Thin Disks of Gas and Dust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richert, Alexander J. W.; Lyra, Wladimir; Kuchner, Marc J.

2018-03-01

In optically thin disks, dust grains are photoelectrically stripped of electrons by starlight, heating nearby gas and possibly creating a dust clumping instability—the photoelectric instability (PeI)—that significantly alters global disk structure. In the current work, we use the Pencil Code to perform the first numerical models of the PeI that include stellar radiation pressure on dust grains in order to explore the parameter regime in which the instability operates. In some models with low gas and dust surface densities, we see a variety of dust structures, including sharp concentric rings. In the most gas- and dust-rich models, nonaxisymmetric clumps, arcs, and spiral arms emerge that represent dust surface density enhancements of factors of ∼5–20. In one high gas surface density model, we include a large, low-order gas viscosity and find that it observably smooths the structures that form in the gas and dust, suggesting that resolved images of a given disk may be useful for deriving constraints on the effective viscosity of its gas. Our models show that radiation pressure does not preclude the formation of complex structure from the PeI, but the qualitative manifestation of the PeI depends strongly on the parameters of the system. The PeI may provide an explanation for unusual disk morphologies, such as the moving blobs of the AU Mic disk, the asymmetric dust distribution of the 49 Ceti disk, and the rings and arcs found in the HD 141569A disk.

Disk Emission from Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Spinning Black Holes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schnittman, Jeremy D.; Krolik, Julian H.; Noble, Scott C.

2016-01-01

We present the results of a new series of global, three-dimensional, relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of thin accretion disks around spinning black holes. The disks have aspect ratios of H/R approx. 0.05 and spin parameters of a/M = 0, 0.5, 0.9, and 0.99. Using the ray-tracing code Pandurata, we generate broadband thermal spectra and polarization signatures from the MHD simulations. We find that the simulated spectra can be well fit with a simple, universal emissivity profile that better reproduces the behavior of the emission from the inner disk, compared to traditional analyses carried out using a Novikov-Thorne thin disk model. Finally, we show how spectropolarization observations can be used to convincingly break the spin-inclination degeneracy well known to the continuum-fitting method of measuring black hole spin.

The Structure of a Quasi-Keplerian Accretion Disk around Magnetized Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habumugisha, Isaac; Jurua, Edward; Tessema, Solomon B.; Simon, Anguma K.

2018-06-01

In this paper, we present the complete structure of a quasi-Keplerian thin accretion disk with an internal dynamo around a magnetized neutron star. We assume a full quasi-Keplerian disk with the azimuthal velocity deviating from the Keplerian fashion by a factor of ξ (0 < ξ < 2). In our approach, we vertically integrate the radial component of the momentum equation to obtain the radial pressure gradient equation for a thin quasi-Keplerian accretion disk. Our results show that, at large radial distance, the accretion disk behaves in a Keplerian fashion. However, close to the neutron star, pressure gradient force (PGF) largely modifies the disk structure, resulting into sudden dynamical changes in the accretion disk. The corotation radius is shifted inward (outward) for ξ > 1 (for ξ < 1), and the position of the inner edge with respect to the new corotation radius is also relocated accordingly, as compared to the Keplerian model. The resulting PGF torque couples with viscous torque (when ξ < 1) to provide a spin-down torque and a spin-up torque (when ξ > 1) while in the advective state. Therefore, neglecting the PGF, as has been the case in previous models, is a glaring omission. Our result has the potential to explain the observable dynamic consequences of accretion disks around magnetized neutron stars.

The Formation and Evolution of Galactic Disks with APOGEE and the Gaia Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chengdong; Zhao, Gang; Zhai, Meng; Jia, Yunpeng

2018-06-01

We explore the structure and evolutionary history of Galactic disks with Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment data release 13 (DR13 hereafter) and Gaia Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution data. We use the [α/M] ratio to allocate stars into particular Galactic components to elucidate the chemical and dynamical properties of the thin and thick disks. The spatial motions of the sample stars are obtained in Galactic Cartesian and cylindrical coordinates. We analyze the abundance trends and metallicity and [α/M] gradients of the thick and thin disks. We confirm the existence of metal-weak thick-disk stars in Galactic disks. A kinematical method is used to select the thin- and thick-disk stars for comparison. We calculate the scale length and scale height of the kinematically and chemically selected thick and thin disks based on the axisymmetric Jeans equation. We conclude that the scale length of the thick disk is approximately equal to that of the thin disk via a kinematical approach. For the chemical selection, this disparity is about 1 kpc. Finally, we get the stellar orbital parameters and try to unveil the formation scenario of the thick disk. We conclude that the gas-rich merger and radial migration are more reasonable formation scenarios for the thick disk.

Vertical Structure of NGC 4631

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ann, Hong Bae; Seo, Mira Seo; Baek, Su-Ja

2011-02-01

We present a deep CCD imaging in B and V bands which allows us to analyze the vertical structure of NGC 4631. We derive the scale heights of the thin and thick disks at a variety of positions along the major axis of the disk. The scale heights of the thin disk are nearly constant while those of the thick disk tend to increase with increasing galactocentric distance. The mean scale heights of the thin disk derived from B and V images are similar to each other (˜450 pc). Instead, those of the thick disk show a strong east-west asymmetry which is caused by the diffuse stellar emission that is most prominent in the north west regions above the disk plane. The ratio of scale heights (z_{thick}/z_{thin}) is about 2.5 in the east side of the disk. However, this ratio is greater than 4 for the thick disk above the disk plane in the west side of the galaxy.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Espaillat, C.; D'Alessio, P.; Hernandez, J.

In the past few years, several disks with inner holes that are relatively empty of small dust grains have been detected and are known as transitional disks. Recently, Spitzer has identified a new class of 'pre-transitional disks' with gaps based on near-infrared photometry and mid-infrared spectra; these objects have an optically thick inner disk separated from an optically thick outer disk by an optically thin disk gap. A near-infrared spectrum provided the first confirmation of a gap in the pre-transitional disk of LkCa 15 by verifying that the near-infrared excess emission in this object was due to an optically thickmore » inner disk. Here, we investigate the difference between the nature of the inner regions of transitional and pre-transitional disks using the same veiling-based technique to extract the near-infrared excess emission above the stellar photosphere. However, in this work we use detailed disk models to fit the excess continua as opposed to the simple blackbody fits previously used. We show that the near-infrared excess emission of the previously identified pre-transitional disks of LkCa 15 and UX Tau A in the Taurus cloud as well as the newly identified pre-transitional disk of ROX 44 in Ophiuchus can be fit with an inner disk wall located at the dust destruction radius. We also present detailed modeling of the broadband spectral energy distributions of these objects, taking into account the effect of shadowing by the inner disk on the outer disk, but considering the finite size of the star, unlike other recent treatments. The near-infrared excess continua of these three pre-transitional disks, which can be explained by optically thick inner disks, are significantly different from that of the transitional disks of GM Aur, whose near-infrared excess continuum can be reproduced by emission from sub-micron-sized optically thin dust, and DM Tau, whose near-infrared spectrum is consistent with a disk hole that is relatively free of small dust. The structure of pre-transitional disks may be a sign of young planets forming in these disks and future studies of pre-transitional disks will provide constraints to aid in theoretical modeling of planet formation.« less

Three-dimensional modelling of thin liquid films over spinning disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Kun; Wray, Alex; Yang, Junfeng; Matar, Omar

2016-11-01

In this research the dynamics of a thin film flowing over a rapidly spinning, horizontal disk is considered. A set of non-axisymmetric evolution equations for the film thickness, radial and azimuthal flow rates are derived using a boundary-layer approximation in conjunction with the Karman-Polhausen approximation for the velocity distribution in the film. These highly nonlinear partial differential equations are then solved numerically in order to reveal the formation of two and three-dimensional large-amplitude waves that travel from the disk inlet to its periphery. The spatio-temporal profile of film thickness provides us with visualization of flow structures over the entire disk and by varying system parameters(volumetric flow rate of fluid and rotational speed of disk) different wave patterns can be observed, including spiral, concentric, smooth waves and wave break-up in exceptional conditions. Similar types of waves can be found by experimentalists in literature and CFD simulation and our results show good agreement with both experimental and CFD results. Furthermore, the semi-parabolic velocity profile assumed in our model under the waves is directly compared with CFD data in various flow regimes in order to validate our model. EPSRC UK Programme Grant EP/K003976/1.

Accretion of magnetized matter into a black hole.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisnovatyj-Kogan, G. S.

1999-12-01

Accretion is the main source of energy in binary X-ray sources inside the Galaxy, and most probably in active galactic nuclei, where numerous observational data for the existence of supermassive black holes have been obtained. Standard accretion disk theory is formulated which is based on local heat balance. The whole energy produced by turbulent viscous heating is supposed to be emitted to the sides of the disk. Sources of turbulence in the accretion disk are discussed, including nonlinear hydrodynamic turbulence, convection and magnetic field. In standard theory there are two branches of solution, optically thick, anti-optically thin, which are individually self-consistent. The choice between these solutions should be done on the basis of a stability analysis. Advection in the accretion disks is described by differential equations, which makes the theory nonlocal. The low-luminosity optically thin accretion disk model with advection under some conditions may become advectively dominated, carrying almost all the energy inside the black hole. A proper account for magnetic field in the process of accretion limits the energy advected into a black hole, and does not allow the radiative efficiency of accretion to become lower than about 1/4 of the standard accretion disk model efficiency.

Anisotropic Multishell Analytical Modeling of an Intervertebral Disk Subjected to Axial Compression.

PubMed

Demers, Sébastien; Nadeau, Sylvie; Bouzid, Abdel-Hakim

2016-04-01

Studies on intervertebral disk (IVD) response to various loads and postures are essential to understand disk's mechanical functions and to suggest preventive and corrective actions in the workplace. The experimental and finite-element (FE) approaches are well-suited for these studies, but validating their findings is difficult, partly due to the lack of alternative methods. Analytical modeling could allow methodological triangulation and help validation of FE models. This paper presents an analytical method based on thin-shell, beam-on-elastic-foundation and composite materials theories to evaluate the stresses in the anulus fibrosus (AF) of an axisymmetric disk composed of multiple thin lamellae. Large deformations of the soft tissues are accounted for using an iterative method and the anisotropic material properties are derived from a published biaxial experiment. The results are compared to those obtained by FE modeling. The results demonstrate the capability of the analytical model to evaluate the stresses at any location of the simplified AF. It also demonstrates that anisotropy reduces stresses in the lamellae. This novel model is a preliminary step in developing valuable analytical models of IVDs, and represents a distinctive groundwork that is able to sustain future refinements. This paper suggests important features that may be included to improve model realism.

Hybrid accretion disks in active galactic nuclei. I - Structure and spectra

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wandel, Amri; Liang, Edison P.

1991-01-01

A unified treatment is presented of the two distinct states of vertically thin AGN accretion disks: a cool (about 10 to the 6th K) optically thick solution, and a hot (about 10 to the 9th K) optically thin solution. A generalized formalism and a new radiative cooling equation valid in both regimes are introduced. A new luminosity limit is found at which the hot and cool alpha solutions merge into a single solution of intermediate optical depth. Analytic solutions for the disk structure are given, and output spectra are computed numerically. This is used to demonstrate the prospect of fitting AGN broadband spectra containing both the UV bump as well as the hard X-ray and gamma-ray tail, using a single accretion disk model. Such models are found to make definite predictions about the observed spectrum, such as the relation between the hard X-ray spectral index, the UV-to-X-ray luminosity ratio, and a feature of about 1 MeV.

The Large-scale Magnetic Fields of Thin Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Xinwu; Spruit, Hendrik C.

2013-03-01

Large-scale magnetic field threading an accretion disk is a key ingredient in the jet formation model. The most attractive scenario for the origin of such a large-scale field is the advection of the field by the gas in the accretion disk from the interstellar medium or a companion star. However, it is realized that outward diffusion of the accreted field is fast compared with the inward accretion velocity in a geometrically thin accretion disk if the value of the Prandtl number P m is around unity. In this work, we revisit this problem considering the angular momentum of the disk to be removed predominantly by the magnetically driven outflows. The radial velocity of the disk is significantly increased due to the presence of the outflows. Using a simplified model for the vertical disk structure, we find that even moderately weak fields can cause sufficient angular momentum loss via a magnetic wind to balance outward diffusion. There are two equilibrium points, one at low field strengths corresponding to a plasma-beta at the midplane of order several hundred, and one for strong accreted fields, β ~ 1. We surmise that the first is relevant for the accretion of weak, possibly external, fields through the outer parts of the disk, while the latter one could explain the tendency, observed in full three-dimensional numerical simulations, of strong flux bundles at the centers of disk to stay confined in spite of strong magnetororational instability turbulence surrounding them.

Accretion Discs Around Black Holes: Developement of Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bisnovatyi-Kogan, G. S.

Standard accretion disk theory is formulated which is based on the local heat balance. The energy produced by a turbulent viscous heating is supposed to be emitted to the sides of the disc. Sources of turbulence in the accretion disc are connected with nonlinear hydrodynamic instability, convection, and magnetic field. In standard theory there are two branches of solution, optically thick, and optically thin. Advection in accretion disks is described by the differential equations what makes the theory nonlocal. Low-luminous optically thin accretion disc model with advection at some suggestions may become advectively dominated, carrying almost all the energy inside the black hole. The proper account of magnetic filed in the process of accretion limits the energy advected into a black hole, efficiency of accretion should exceed ˜ 1/4 of the standard accretion disk model efficiency.

A study of dust properties in the inner sub-au region of the Herbig Ae star HD 169142 with VLTI/PIONIER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, L.; Kóspál, Á.; Ábrahám, P.; Kreplin, A.; Matter, A.; Weigelt, G.

2018-01-01

Context. An essential step to understanding protoplanetary evolution is the study of disks that contain gaps or inner holes. The pre-transitional disk around the Herbig star HD 169142 exhibits multi-gap disk structure, differentiated gas and dust distribution, planet candidates, and near-infrared fading in the past decades, which make it a valuable target for a case study of disk evolution. Aims: Using near-infrared interferometric observations with VLTI/PIONIER, we aim to study the dust properties in the inner sub-au region of the disk in the years 2011-2013, when the object is already in its near-infrared faint state. Methods: We first performed simple geometric modeling to characterize the size and shape of the NIR-emitting region. We then performed Monte-Carlo radiative transfer simulations on grids of models and compared the model predictions with the interferometric and photometric observations. Results: We find that the observations are consistent with optically thin gray dust lying at Rin 0.07 au, passively heated to T 1500 K. Models with sub-micron optically thin dust are excluded because such dust will be heated to much higher temperatures at similar distance. The observations can also be reproduced with a model consisting of optically thick dust at Rin 0.06 au, but this model is plausible only if refractory dust species enduring 2400 K exist in the inner disk. Based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere under ESO programs 190.C-963 and 087.C-0709.

Nanoscale modeling for ultrathin liquid films: Spreading and coupled layering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, David Michael

The hard disk drive (HDD) industry is currently experiencing a compound annual growth rate of 100% for the areal density. Current production drives have an areal density of 80 Gbit in-2, and drives with an areal density of 100 Gbit in-2 have been recently demonstrated. While much of this growth has been fueled by the development of new read/write heads, some of this gain was achieved by reducing the spacing between the heads and the magnetic media. This in turn reduces the spacing at the head-disk interface (HDI). The HDI in a HDD system consists of a slider, which contains the read/write heads, flying over the disk surface on an air bearing. The current designed separation distance, or fly height, is less than 10 nm. This spacing is expected to reduce to a mere 5 nm within the next few years. With the reduced fly height, intermittent contacts at the HDI become more probable. Only a thin lubricant film of perfluoropolyether (PFPE) and a sputtered carbon overcoat on the disk surface protect the slider and the stored data from mechanical and thermal damage. The PFPE film is quite thin, with a thickness of less than 2 nm or about a monolayer of molecules. During an HDI contact, the PFPE film is considered sacrificial and is often depleted in the contact area. In order to maintain adequate protection for the disk surface, PFPE molecules from the surrounding film must replenish the depleted area. This replenishment ability directly opposes the requirement that the PFPE film must not spin-off of the disk surface due to the disk rotation rate, which is as high as 10,000 RPM in current drives. To balance the PFPE films to sufficiently meet both requirements, HDD manufacturers functionalized the endgroups of the PFPE molecules to allow some portion of the lubricant film to reversibly bond with the disk overcoat. The result is a lubricant film that has a slower replenishment but does not spin-off. The work presented here focuses on the replenishment ability of thin films of liquid PFPE. The experimental analogue of replenishment is the one-dimensional spreading analysis. PFPEs with functional endgroups demonstrated coupled molecular layering and dewetting phenomena during the spreading analysis, while PFPEs with nonfunctional endgroups did not. All of the PFPE thin films spread via a diffusive process and had diffusion coefficients that depended on the local film thickness. A theoretical analysis is presented here for both the governing equation and the disjoining pressure driving force for the PFPE thin film spreading. For PFPEs with non-functional endgroups, a reasonable analysis is performed on the diffusion coefficient for two classes of film: submonolayer and multilayer. The diffusion coefficient of PFPEs with functional endgroups are qualitatively linked to the gradient of the film disjoining pressure. To augment this theory, both lattice-based and off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations are conducted for PFPE film models. The lattice-based model shows the existence of a critical functional endgroup interaction strength. It is also used to study the break-up of molecular layers for a spreading film via a fractal analysis. The off-lattice model is used to calculate the anisotropic pressure tensor for the model PFPE thin film and subsequently the film disjoining pressure. The model also qualitatively analyzes of the self diffusion in the film.

Observational constraints on black hole accretion disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liang, Edison P.

1994-01-01

We review the empirical constraints on accretion disk models of stellar-mass black holes based on recent multiwavelength observational results. In addition to time-averaged emission spectra, the time evolutions of the intensity and spectrum provide critical information about the structure, stability, and dynamics of the disk. Using the basic thermal Keplerian disk paradigm, we consider in particular generalizations of the standard optically thin disk models needed to accommodate the extremely rich variety of dynamical phenomena exhibited by black hole candidates ranging from flares of electron-positron annihilations and quasiperiodic oscillations in the X-ray intensity to X-ray novae activity. These in turn provide probes of the disk structure and global geometry. The goal is to construct a single unified framework to interpret a large variety of black hole phenomena. This paper will concentrate on the interface between basic theory and observational data modeling.

Multi-scale simulations of black hole accretion in barred galaxies. Self-gravitating disk models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, M.; Illenseer, T. F.; Duschl, W. J.

2018-06-01

Due to the non-axisymmetric potential of the central bar, in addition to their characteristic arms and bar, barred spiral galaxies form a variety of structures within the thin gas disk, such as nuclear rings, inner spirals, and dust lanes. These structures in the inner kiloparsec are extremely important in order to explain and understand the rate of black hole feeding. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of stellar bars in spiral galaxies on the thin self-gravitating gas disk. We focus on the accretion of gas onto the central supermassive black hole and its time-dependent evolution. We conducted multi-scale simulations simultaneously resolving the galactic disk and the accretion disk around the central black hole. In all the simulations we varied the initial gas disk mass. As an additional parameter we chose either the gas temperature for isothermal simulations or the cooling timescale for non-isothermal simulations. Accretion was either driven by a gravitationally unstable or clumpy accretion disk or by energy dissipation in strong shocks. Most of the simulations show a strong dependence of the accretion rate at the outer boundary of the central accretion disk (r < 300 pc) on the gas flow at kiloparsec scales. The final black hole masses reach up to 109 M⊙ after 1.6 Gyr. Our models show the expected influence of the Eddington limit and a decline in growth rate at the corresponding sub-Eddington limit.

The Ages of the Thin Disk, Thick Disk, and the Halo from Nearby White Dwarfs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilic, Mukremin; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Harris, Hugh C.; von Hippel, Ted; Liebert, James W.; Williams, Kurtis A.; Jeffery, Elizabeth; DeGennaro, Steven

2017-03-01

We present a detailed analysis of the white dwarf luminosity functions derived from the local 40 pc sample and the deep proper motion catalog of Munn et al. Many previous studies have ignored the contribution of thick disk white dwarfs to the Galactic disk luminosity function, which results in an erroneous age measurement. We demonstrate that the ratio of thick/thin disk white dwarfs is roughly 20% in the local sample. Simultaneously fitting for both disk components, we derive ages of 6.8-7.0 Gyr for the thin disk and 8.7 ± 0.1 Gyr for the thick disk from the local 40 pc sample. Similarly, we derive ages of 7.4-8.2 Gyr for the thin disk and 9.5-9.9 Gyr for the thick disk from the deep proper motion catalog, which shows no evidence of a deviation from a constant star formation rate in the past 2.5 Gyr. We constrain the time difference between the onset of star formation in the thin disk and the thick disk to be {1.6}-0.4+0.3 Gyr. The faint end of the luminosity function for the halo white dwarfs is less constrained, resulting in an age estimate of {12.5}-3.4+1.4 Gyr for the Galactic inner halo. This is the first time that ages for all three major components of the Galaxy have been obtained from a sample of field white dwarfs that is large enough to contain significant numbers of disk and halo objects. The resultant ages agree reasonably well with the age estimates for the oldest open and globular clusters.

The flow of a thin liquid film on a stationary and rotating disk. I - Experimental analysis and flow visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, S.; Faghri, A.; Hankey, W.

1990-01-01

The mean thickness of a thin liquid film of deionized water with a free surface on a stationary and rotating horizontal disk has been measured with a nonobtrusive capacitance technique. The measurements were taken when the rotational speed was 0-300 RPM and the flow rate was 7.0-15.0 LPM. A flow visualization study of the thin film was also performed to determine the characteristics of the waves on the free surface. When the disk was stationary, a circular hydraulic jump was present on the disk. Surface waves were found in the supercritical and subcritical regions at all flow rates studied. When the rotational speed of the disk is low, a standing wave at the edge of the disk was present. As the rotational speed increased, the surface waves changed from the wavy-laminar region to a region in which the waves ran nearly radially across the disk on top of a thin substrate of fluid.

Local fragmentation of thin disks in Eddington-inspired gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roshan, Mahmood; Kazemi, Ali; De Martino, Ivan

2018-06-01

We find the generalized version of the Toomre's criterion for the stability of a rotating thin disk in the context of Eddington inspired Born-Infeld (EiBI) gravity which possesses one free parameter χ. To do so we use the weak field limit of the theory and find the dispersion relation for the propagation of matter density waves on the surface of a self-gravitating and differentially rotating disk. Finally we find a new version of Toomre's stability criterion for thin disks. We show that EiBI gravity with negative χ destabilizes all the rotating thin disks. On the other hand EiBI with positive χ substantially can suppress the local fragmentation, and has stabilizing effects against axi-symmetric perturbations. More specifically, we show that only an annulus remains unstable on the surface of the disk. The width of the annulus directly depends on the magnitude of χ.

Conservative GRMHD simulations of moderately thin, tilted accretion disks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Teixeira, Danilo Morales; Fragile, P. Chris; Zhuravlev, Viacheslav V.

2014-12-01

This paper presents our latest numerical simulations of accretion disks that are misaligned with respect to the rotation axis of a Kerr black hole. In this work, we use a new, fully conservative version of the Cosmos++ general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) code, coupled with an ad hoc cooling function designed to control the thickness of the disk. Together these allow us to simulate the thinnest tilted accretion disks ever using a GRMHD code. In this way, we are able to probe the regime where the dimensionless stress and scale height of the disk become comparable. We present results for bothmore » prograde and retrograde cases. The simulated prograde tilted disk shows no sign of Bardeen-Petterson alignment even in the innermost parts of the disk. The simulated retrograde tilted disk, however, does show modest alignment. The implication of these results is that the parameter space associated with Bardeen-Petterson alignment for prograde disks may be rather small, only including very thin disks. Unlike our previous work, we find no evidence for standing shocks in our simulated tilted disks. We ascribe this to the black hole spin, tilt angle, and disk scale height all being small in these simulations. We also add to the growing body of literature pointing out that the turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability in global simulations of accretion disks is not isotropic. Finally, we provide a comparison between our moderately thin, untilted reference simulation and other numerical simulations of thin disks in the literature.« less

Modeling Jupiter's current disc - Pioneer 10 outbound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, D. E.; Melville, J. G.; Blake, M. L.

1980-07-01

A model of the magnetic field of the Jovian current disk is presented. The model uses Euler functions and the Biot-Savart law applied to a series of concentric, but not necessarily coplanar current rings. It was found that the best fit to the Pioneer 10 outbound perturbation magnetic field data is obtained if the current disk is twisted, and also bent to tend toward parallelism with the Jovigraphic equator. The inner and outer radii of the disk appear to be about 7 and 150 Jovian radii, respectively; because of the observed current disk penetrations, the bent disk also requires a deformation in the form of a bump or wrinkle whose axis tends to exhibit spiraling. Modeling of the azimuthal field shows that it is due to a thin radial current sheet, but it may actually be due in large part to penetration of a tail current sheet as suggested by Voyager observations.

Direct numerical simulation of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a vertical thin disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Wei; Wang, Yin; He, Xiao-Zhou; Yik, Hiu-Fai; Wang, Xiao-Ping; Schumacher, Jorg; Tong, Penger

2017-11-01

We report a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a thin vertical disk with a high-order spectral element method code NEK5000. An unstructured mesh is used to adapt the turbulent flow in the thin disk and to ensure that the mesh sizes satisfy the refined Groetzbach criterion and a new criterion for thin boundary layers proposed by Shishkina et al. The DNS results for the mean and variance temperature profiles in the thermal boundary layer region are found to be in good agreement with the predictions of the new boundary layer models proposed by Shishkina et al. and Wang et al.. Furthermore, we numerically calculate the five budget terms in the boundary layer equation, which are difficult to measure in experiment. The DNS results agree well with the theoretical predictions by Wang et al. Our numerical work thus provides a strong support for the development of a common framework for understanding the effect of boundary layer fluctuations. This work was supported in part by Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

You’re Cut Off: HD and MHD Simulations of Truncated Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogg, J. Drew; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2017-01-01

Truncated accretion disks are commonly invoked to explain the spectro-temporal variability from accreting black holes in both small systems, i.e. state transitions in galactic black hole binaries (GBHBs), and large systems, i.e. low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs). In the canonical truncated disk model of moderately low accretion rate systems, gas in the inner region of the accretion disk occupies a hot, radiatively inefficient phase, which leads to a geometrically thick disk, while the gas in the outer region occupies a cooler, radiatively efficient phase that resides in the standard geometrically thin disk. Observationally, there is strong empirical evidence to support this phenomenological model, but a detailed understanding of the disk behavior is lacking. We present well-resolved hydrodynamic (HD) and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical models that use a toy cooling prescription to produce the first sustained truncated accretion disks. Using these simulations, we study the dynamics, angular momentum transport, and energetics of a truncated disk in the two different regimes. We compare the behaviors of the HD and MHD disks and emphasize the need to incorporate a full MHD treatment in any discussion of truncated accretion disk evolution.

CO Fundamental Emission from V836 Tauri

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-10

systems: formation — planetary systems: protoplanetary disks — stars: individual (V836 Tauri) — stars: pre–main-sequence Online material: color...how either of these hypothesesmay bear on our under- standing of disk dissipation in this system. Subject headinggs: circumstellar matter — planetary ...that can be modeled as an optically thick disk that has an optically thin region (a hole or a gap ) at smaller radii, have been suggested to be in the

Foundations of Black Hole Accretion Disk Theory.

PubMed

Abramowicz, Marek A; Fragile, P Chris

2013-01-01

This review covers the main aspects of black hole accretion disk theory. We begin with the view that one of the main goals of the theory is to better understand the nature of black holes themselves. In this light we discuss how accretion disks might reveal some of the unique signatures of strong gravity: the event horizon, the innermost stable circular orbit, and the ergosphere. We then review, from a first-principles perspective, the physical processes at play in accretion disks. This leads us to the four primary accretion disk models that we review: Polish doughnuts (thick disks), Shakura-Sunyaev (thin) disks, slim disks, and advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs). After presenting the models we discuss issues of stability, oscillations, and jets. Following our review of the analytic work, we take a parallel approach in reviewing numerical studies of black hole accretion disks. We finish with a few select applications that highlight particular astrophysical applications: measurements of black hole mass and spin, black hole vs. neutron star accretion disks, black hole accretion disk spectral states, and quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs).

Cryogenic Yb: YAG Thin-Disk Laser

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-09

AFRL-RD-PS- TP-2016-0004 AFRL-RD-PS- TP-2016-0004 CRYOGENIC Yb: YAG THINN-DISK LASER N . Vretenar, et al. 19 August 2011 Technical Paper...Cryogenic Yb: YAG Thin-Disk Laser 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) * N . Vretenar, R. Carson, ***T. Lucas, T. Newell, W.P. Latham...Thin-Disk Laser N . Vretenar,1 T. Carson,2 T. Lucas,3T. Newell,2 W. P. Latham,2 and P. Peterson,3 H. Bostanci,4 J. J. Lindauer4, B. A. Saarloos,4

The Extreme Spin of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gou, Lijun; McClintock, Jeffre E.; Reid, Mark J.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Steiner, James F.; Narayan, Ramesh; Xiang, Jingen; Remillard, Ronald A.; Arnaud, Keith A.; Davis, Shane W.

2005-01-01

The compact primary in the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 was the first black hole to be established via dynamical observatIOns. We have recently determined accurate values for its mass and distance, and for the orbital inclination angle of the binary. Building on these.results, which are based on our favored (asynchronous) dynamical model, we have measured the radius of the inner edge of the black hole's accretion disk by fitting its thermal continuum.spectrum to a fully relativistic model of a thin accretion disk. Assuming that the spin axis of the black hole is aligned with the orbital angular momentum vector, we have determined that Cygnus X-I contains a near-extreme Kerr black hole with a spin parameter a* > 0.95 (3(sigma)). For a less probable (synchronous) dynamIcal model, we find a* > 0.92 (3(sigma)). In our analysis, we include the uncertainties in black hole mass orbital inclination angle and distance, and we also include the uncertainty in the calibration of the absolute flux via the Crab. These four sources of uncertainty totally dominate the error budget. The uncertainties introduced by the thin-disk model we employ are particularly small in this case given the extreme spin of the black hole and the disk's low luminosity.

The Extreme Spin of the Black Hole in Cygnus X-1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gou, Lijun; McClintock, Jeffrey E.; Reid, Mark J.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Steiner, James F.; Narayan, Ramesh; Xiang, Jingen; Remillard, Ronald A.; Arnaud, Keith A.; Davis, Shane W.

2011-01-01

The compact primary in the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 was the first black hole to be established via dynamical observations. We have recently determined accurate values for its mass and distance, and for the orbital inclination angle of the binary. Building on these results, which are based on our favored (asynchronous) dynamical model, we have measured the radius of the inner edge of the black hole s accretion disk by fitting its thermal continuum spectrum to a fully relativistic model of a thin accretion disk. Assuming that the spin axis of the black hole is aligned with the orbital angular momentum vector, we have determined that Cygnus X-1 contains a near-extreme Kerr black hole with a spin parameter a* > 0.95 (3(sigma)). For a less probable (synchronous) dynamical model, we find a. > 0.92 (3 ). In our analysis, we include the uncertainties in black hole mass, orbital inclination angle, and distance, and we also include the uncertainty in the calibration of the absolute flux via the Crab. These four sources of uncertainty totally dominate the error budget. The uncertainties introduced by the thin-disk model we employ are particularly small in this case given the extreme spin of the black hole and the disk s low luminosity.

Investigating FP Tau’s protoplanetary disk structure through modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brinjikji, Marah; Espaillat, Catherine

2017-01-01

This project presents a study aiming to understand the structure of the protoplanetary disk around FP Tau, a very young, very low mass star in the Taurus star-forming region. We have gathered existing optical, Spitzer, Herschel and submillimeter observations to construct the spectral energy distribution (SED) of FP Tau. We have used the D’Alessio et al (2006) physically self-consistent irradiated accretion disk model including dust settling to model the disk of FP Tau. Using this method, the best fit for the SED of FP Tau is a model that includes a gap located 10-20 AU away from the star. This gap is filled with optically thin dust that separates the optically thick dust in the outer disk from the optically thick dust in the inner disk. These characteristics indicate that FP Tau’s protostellar system is best classified as a pre-transitional disk. Near-infrared interferometry in the K-Band from Willson et al 2016 indicates that FP Tau has a small gap located 10-20 AU from the star, which is consistent with the model we produced, lending further support to the pre-transitional disk interpretation. The most likely explanation for the existence of a gap in the disk is a forming planet.

Simulating a Thin Accretion Disk Using PLUTO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillipson, Rebecca; Vogeley, Michael S.; Boyd, Patricia T.

2017-08-01

Accreting black hole systems such as X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei exhibit variability in their luminosity on many timescales ranging from milliseconds to tens of days, and even hundreds of days. The mechanism(s) driving this variability and the relationship between short- and long-term variability is poorly understood. Current studies on accretion disks seek to determine how the changes in black hole mass, the rate at which mass accretes onto the central black hole, and the external environment affect the variability on scales ranging from stellar-mass black holes to supermassive black holes. Traditionally, the fluid mechanics equations governing accretion disks have been simplified by considering only the kinematics of the disk, and perhaps magnetic fields, in order for their phenomenological behavior to be predicted analytically. We seek to employ numerical techniques to study accretion disks including more complicated physics traditionally ignored in order to more accurately understand their behavior over time. We present a proof-of-concept three dimensional, global simulation using the astrophysical hydrodynamic code PLUTO of a simplified thin disk model about a central black hole which will serve as the basis for development of more complicated models including external effects such as radiation and magnetic fields. We also develop a tool to generate a synthetic light curve that displays the variability in luminosity of the simulation over time. The preliminary simulation and accompanying synthetic light curve demonstrate that PLUTO is a reliable code to perform sophisticated simulations of accretion disk systems which can then be compared to observational results.

Chemo-dynamical signatures in simulated Milky Way-like galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spagna, Alessandro; Curir, Anna; Giammaria, Marco; Lattanzi, Mario G.; Murante, Giuseppe; Re Fiorentin, Paola

2018-04-01

We have investigated the chemo-dynamical evolution of a Milky Way-like disk galaxy, AqC4, produced by a cosmological simulation integrating a sub-resolution ISM model. We evidence a global inside-out and upside-down disk evolution, that is consistent with a scenario where the ``thin disk'' stars are formed from the accreted gas close to the galactic plane, while the older ``thick disk'' stars are originated in situ at higher heights. Also, the bar appears the most effective heating mechanism in the inner disk. Finally, no significant metallicity-rotation correlation has been observed, in spite of the presence of a negative [Fe/H] radial gradient.

Vertical Structure of Radiation-pressure-dominated Thin Disks: Link between Vertical Advection and Convective Stability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gong, Hong-Yu; Gu, Wei-Min, E-mail: guwm@xmu.edu.cn

2017-04-20

In the classic picture of standard thin accretion disks, viscous heating is balanced by radiative cooling through the diffusion process, and the radiation-pressure-dominated inner disk suffers convective instability. However, recent simulations have shown that, owing to the magnetic buoyancy, the vertical advection process can significantly contribute to energy transport. In addition, in comparing the simulation results with the local convective stability criterion, no convective instability has been found. In this work, following on from simulations, we revisit the vertical structure of radiation-pressure-dominated thin disks and include the vertical advection process. Our study indicates a link between the additional energy transportmore » and the convectively stable property. Thus, the vertical advection not only significantly contributes to the energy transport, but it also plays an important role in making the disk convectively stable. Our analyses may help to explain the discrepancy between classic theory and simulations on standard thin disks.« less

Probing the dusty disk around the Herbig Ae star MWC 480

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamidouche, M.; Looney, L. W.; Shaw, J.

2004-12-01

It is already quite evident that some Herbig AeBe stars are surrounded by circumstellar dusty disk (e.g. Fuente et al 2003, Natta et al. 2004). We present sub-arcsecond resolution observations at λ = 1mm of dust continuum emission from circumstellar structures around the Herbig AeBe star MWC 480. We have detected a disk-like structure around the star. This is the first well resolved Herbig Ae disk at 1.3 mm. We deduced from the best fit Gaussian a FWHM of 100 AU. We deduce a disk mass of ˜ 0.017 M⊙ assuming optically thin emission. We focus the discussion upon the morphology of the disk and use models to infer the physical parameters (e.g. the density profile). In addition, we discuss a new method with which to fit the numerical model to interferometric data of circumstellar structures around Herbig AeBe stars and T Tauri stars. This method allows us to compare complete Fourier dataset to the Model.

Experimental analysis and flow visualization of a thin liquid film on a stationary and rotating disk

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, S.; Faghri, A.; Hankey, W.

1991-01-01

The mean thickness of a thin liquid film of deionized water with a free surface on a stationary and rotating horizontal disk has been measured with a nonobtrusive capacitance technique. The measurements were taken when the rotational speed ranged from 0-300 rpm and the flow rate varied from 7.0-15.0 lpm. A flow visualization study of the thin film was also performed to determine the characteristics of the waves on the free surface. When the disk was stationary, a circular hydraulic jump was present on the disk. Upstream from the jump, the film thickness was determined by the inertial and frictional forces on the fluid, and the radial spreading of the film. The surface tension at the edge of the disk affected the film thickness downstream from the jump. For the rotating disk, the film thickness was dependent upon the inertial and frictional forces near the center of the disk and the centrifugal forces near the edge of the disk.

Extended X-Ray Emission around Quasars at Intermediate Redshift

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fiore, Fabrizio

1998-01-01

We compare the optical to soft X-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) of a sample of bright low-redshift (0.048 less than z less than 0.155), radio-quiet quasars, with a range of thermal models which have been proposed to explain the optical/UV/soft X-ray quasar emission: (a) optically thin emission from an ionized plasma, (b) optically thick emission from the innermost regions of an accretion disk in Schwarzschild and Kerr geometries. We presented ROSAT PSPC observations of these quasars in an earlier paper. Here our goals are to search for the signature of thermal emission in the quasar SED, and to investigate whether a single component is dominating at different frequencies. We find that isothermal optically thin plasma models can explain the observed soft X-ray color and the mean OUV color. However, they predict an ultraviolet (1325 Angstrom) luminosity a factor of 3 to 10 times lower than observed. Pure disk models, even in a Kerr geometry, do not have the necessary flexibility to account for the observed OUV and soft X-ray luminosities. Additional components are needed both in the optical and in the soft X-rays (e.g. a hot corona can explain the soft X-ray color). The most constrained modification of pure disk models, is the assumption of an underlying power law component extending from the infrared (3 micrometers) to the X-ray. This can explain both the OUV and soft X-ray colors and luminosities and does not exceed the 3 micrometers luminosity, where a contribution from hot dust is likely to be important. We also discuss the possibility that the observed soft X-ray color and luminosity are dominated by reflection from the ionized surface of the accretion disk. While modifications of both optically thin plasma models and pure disk models might account for the observed SED, we do not find any strong evidence that the OUV bump and soft X-ray emission are one and the same component. Likewise, we do not find any strong argument which definitely argues in favor of thermal models.

HD139614: the Interferometric Case for a Group-Ib Pre-Transitional Young Disk

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Labadie, Lucas; Matter, Alexis; Kreplin, Alexander; Lopez, Bruno; Wolf, Sebastian; Weigelt, Gerd; Ertel, Steve; Berger, Jean-Philippe; Pott, Jorg-Uwe; Danchi, William C.

2014-01-01

The Herbig Ae star HD139614 is a group-Ib object, which featureless SED indicates disk flaring and a possible pre-transitional evolutionary stage. We present mid- and near-IR interferometric results collected with MIDI, AMBER and PIONIER with the aim of constraining the spatial structure of the 0.1-10 AU disk region and assess its possible multi-component structure. A two-component disk model composed of an optically thin 2-AU wide inner disk and an outer temperature-gradient disk starting at 5.6 AU reproduces well the observations. This is an additional argument to the idea that group-I HAeBe inner disks could be already in the disk-clearing transient stage. HD139614 will become a prime target for mid-IR interferometric imaging with the second-generation instrument MATISSE of the VLTI.

High-energy ultra-short pulse thin-disk lasers: new developments and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, Knut; Klingebiel, Sandro; Schultze, Marcel; Tesseit, Catherine Y.; Bessing, Robert; Häfner, Matthias; Prinz, Stefan; Sutter, Dirk; Metzger, Thomas

2016-03-01

We report on the latest developments at TRUMPF Scientific Lasers in the field of ultra-short pulse lasers with highest output energies and powers. All systems are based on the mature and industrialized thin-disk technology of TRUMPF. Thin Yb:YAG disks provide a reliable and efficient solution for power and energy scaling to Joule- and kW-class picosecond laser systems. Due to its efficient one dimensional heat removal, the thin-disk exhibits low distortions and thermal lensing even when pumped under extremely high pump power densities of 10kW/cm². Currently TRUMPF Scientific Lasers develops regenerative amplifiers with highest average powers, optical parametric amplifiers and synchronization schemes. The first few-ps kHz multi-mJ thin-disk regenerative amplifier based on the TRUMPF thindisk technology was developed at the LMU Munich in 20081. Since the average power and energy have continuously been increased, reaching more than 300W (10kHz repetition rate) and 200mJ (1kHz repetition rate) at pulse durations below 2ps. First experiments have shown that the current thin-disk technology supports ultra-short pulse laser solutions >1kW of average power. Based on few-picosecond thin-disk regenerative amplifiers few-cycle optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers (OPCPA) can be realized. These systems have proven to be the only method for scaling few-cycle pulses to the multi-mJ energy level. OPA based few-cycle systems will allow for many applications such as attosecond spectroscopy, THz spectroscopy and imaging, laser wake field acceleration, table-top few-fs accelerators and laser-driven coherent X-ray undulator sources. Furthermore, high-energy picosecond sources can directly be used for a variety of applications such as X-ray generation or in atmospheric research.

Analysis of Hydrodynamics and Heat Transfer in a Thin Liquid Film Flowing over a Rotating Disk by Integral Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basu, S.; Cetegen, B. M.

2005-01-01

An integral analysis of hydrodynamics and heat transfer in a thin liquid film flowing over a rotating disk surface is presented for both constant temperature and constant heat flux boundary conditions. The model is found to capture the correct trends of the liquid film thickness variation over the disk surface and compare reasonably well with experimental results over the range of Reynolds and Rossby numbers covering both inertia and rotation dominated regimes. Nusselt number variation over the disk surface shows two types of behavior. At low rotation rates, the Nusselt number exhibits a radial decay with Nusselt number magnitudes increasing with higher inlet Reynolds number for both constant wall temperature and heat flux cases. At high rotation rates, the Nusselt number profiles exhibit a peak whose location advances radially outward with increasing film Reynolds number or inertia. The results also compare favorably with the full numerical simulation results from an earlier study as well as with the reported experimental results.

Formation of Spiral-Arm Spurs and Bound Clouds in Vertically Stratified Galactic Gas Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Woong-Tae; Ostriker, Eve C.

2006-07-01

We investigate the growth of spiral-arm substructure in vertically stratified, self-gravitating, galactic gas disks, using local numerical MHD simulations. Our new models extend our previous two-dimensional studies, which showed that a magnetized spiral shock in a thin disk can undergo magneto-Jeans instability (MJI), resulting in regularly spaced interarm spur structures and massive gravitationally bound fragments. Similar spur (or ``feather'') features have recently been seen in high-resolution observations of several galaxies. Here we consider two sets of numerical models: two-dimensional simulations that use a ``thick-disk'' gravitational kernel, and three-dimensional simulations with explicit vertical stratification. Both models adopt an isothermal equation of state with cs=7 km s-1. When disks are sufficiently magnetized and self-gravitating, the result in both sorts of models is the growth of spiral-arm substructure similar to that in our previous razor-thin models. Reduced self-gravity due to nonzero disk thickness increases the spur spacing to ~10 times the Jeans length at the arm peak. Bound clouds that form from spur fragmentation have masses ~(1-3)×107 Msolar each, similar to the largest observed GMCs. The mass-to-flux ratios and specific angular momenta of the bound condensations are lower than large-scale galactic values, as is true for observed GMCs. We find that unmagnetized or weakly magnetized two-dimensional models are unstable to the ``wiggle instability'' previously identified by Wada & Koda. However, our fully three-dimensional models do not show this effect. Nonsteady motions and strong vertical shear prevent coherent vortical structures from forming, evidently suppressing the wiggle instability. We also find no clear traces of Parker instability in the nonlinear spiral arm substructures that emerge, although conceivably Parker modes may help seed the MJI at early stages since azimuthal wavelengths are similar.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jiang, Yan-Fei; Green, Paul J.; Pancoast, Anna

We study the time lags between the continuum emission of quasars at different wavelengths, based on more than four years of multi-band ( g , r , i , z ) light curves in the Pan-STARRS Medium Deep Fields. As photons from different bands emerge from different radial ranges in the accretion disk, the lags constrain the sizes of the accretion disks. We select 240 quasars with redshifts of z ≈ 1 or z ≈ 0.3 that are relatively emission-line free. The light curves are sampled from day to month timescales, which makes it possible to detect lags on themore » scale of the light crossing time of the accretion disks. With the code JAVELIN , we detect typical lags of several days in the rest frame between the g band and the riz bands. The detected lags are ∼2–3 times larger than the light crossing time estimated from the standard thin disk model, consistent with the recently measured lag in NGC 5548 and microlensing measurements of quasars. The lags in our sample are found to increase with increasing luminosity. Furthermore, the increase in lags going from g − r to g − i and then to g − z is slower than predicted in the thin disk model, particularly for high-luminosity quasars. The radial temperature profile in the disk must be different from what is assumed. We also find evidence that the lags decrease with increasing line ratios between ultraviolet Fe ii lines and Mg ii, which may point to changes in the accretion disk structure at higher metallicity.« less

Thin Disks Gone MAD: Magnetically Arrested Accretion in the Thin Regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avara, Mark J.; McKinney, Jonathan C.; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2015-01-01

The collection and concentration of surrounding large scale magnetic fields by black hole accretion disks may be required for production of powerful, spin driven jets. So far, accretion disks have not been shown to grow sufficient poloidal flux via the turbulent dynamo alone to produce such persistent jets. Also, there have been conflicting answers as to how, or even if, an accretion disk can collect enough magnetic flux from the ambient environment. Extending prior numerical studies of magnetically arrested disks (MAD) in the thick (angular height, H/R~1) and intermediate (H/R~.2-.6) accretion regimes, we present our latest results from fully general relativistic MHD simulations of the thinnest BH (H/R~.1) accretion disks to date exhibiting the MAD mode of accretion. We explore the significant deviations of this accretion mode from the standard picture of thin, MRI-driven accretion, and demonstrate the accumulation of large-scale magnetic flux.

Hubble Space Telescope Eclipse Observations of the Nova Like Cataclysmic Variable UX Ursae Majoris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knigge, Christian; Long, Knox S.; Wade, Richard A.; Baptista, Raymundo; Horne, Keith; Hubeny, Ivan; Rutten, Rene G. M.

1998-01-01

We present and analyze Hubble Space Telescope observations of the eclipsing nova-like cataclysmic variable UX UMa obtained with the Faint Object Spectrograph. Two eclipses each were observed with the G160L grating (covering the ultraviolet waveband) in 1994 August and with the PRISM (covering the near-ultraviolet to near-infrared) in November of the same year. The system was about 50% brighter in November than in August, which, if due to a change in the accretion rate, indicates a fairly substantial increase in Mass accretion by about 50%. The eclipse light curves are qualitatively consistent with the gradual occultation of an accretion disk with a radially decreasing temperature distribution. The light curves also exhibit asymmetries about mideclipse that are likely due to a bright spot at the disk edge. Bright-spot spectra have been constructed by differencing the mean spectra observed at pre- and posteclipse orbital phases. These difference spectra contain ultraviolet absorption lines and show the Balmer jump in emission. This suggests that part of the bright spot may be optically thin in the continuum and vertically extended enough to veil the inner disk and/or the outflow from UX UMa in some spectral lines. Model disk spectra constructed as ensembles of stellar atmospheres provide poor descriptions of the observed posteclipse spectra, despite the fact that UX UMa's light should be dominated by the disk at this time. Suitably scaled single temperature model stellar atmospheres with T(sub eff) approximately equals 12,500-14,500 K actually provide a better match to both the ultraviolet and optical posteclipse spectra. Evidently, great care must be taken in attempts to derive accretion rates from comparisons of disk models to observations. One way to reconcile disk models with the observed posteclipse spectra is to postulate the presence of a significant amount of optically thin material in the system. Such an optically thin component might be associated with the transition region ("chromosphere") between the disk photosphere and the fast wind from the system whose presence has been suggested by Knigge and Drew. In any event, the wind/ chromosphere is likely to be the region in which many, if not most, of the UV lines are formed. This is clear from the plethora of emission lines that appear in the mideclipse spectra, some of which appear as absorption features in spectra taken at out-of-eclipse orbital phases.

X-Ray Quasi-periodic Oscillations in the Lense–Thirring Precession Model. I. Variability of Relativistic Continuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

You, Bei; Bursa, Michal; Życki, Piotr T.

2018-05-01

We develop a Monte Carlo code to compute the Compton-scattered X-ray flux arising from a hot inner flow that undergoes Lense–Thirring precession. The hot flow intercepts seed photons from an outer truncated thin disk. A fraction of the Comptonized photons will illuminate the disk, and the reflected/reprocessed photons will contribute to the observed spectrum. The total spectrum, including disk thermal emission, hot flow Comptonization, and disk reflection, is modeled within the framework of general relativity, taking light bending and gravitational redshift into account. The simulations are performed in the context of the Lense–Thirring precession model for the low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations, so the inner flow is assumed to precess, leading to periodic modulation of the emitted radiation. In this work, we concentrate on the energy-dependent X-ray variability of the model and, in particular, on the evolution of the variability during the spectral transition from hard to soft state, which is implemented by the decrease of the truncation radius of the outer disk toward the innermost stable circular orbit. In the hard state, where the Comptonizing flow is geometrically thick, the Comptonization is weakly variable with a fractional variability amplitude of ≤10% in the soft state, where the Comptonizing flow is cooled down and thus becomes geometrically thin, the fractional variability of the Comptonization is highly variable, increasing with photon energy. The fractional variability of the reflection increases with energy, and the reflection emission for low spin is counterintuitively more variable than the one for high spin.

A three-dimensional model for lubricant depletion under sliding condition on bit patterned media of hard disk drives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Lin

2018-05-01

In this paper, we model the depletion dynamics of the molecularly thin layer of lubricants on a bit patterned media disk of hard disk drives under a sliding air bearing head. The dominant physics and consequently, the lubricant depletion dynamics on a patterned disk are shown to be significantly different from the well-studied cases of a smooth disk. Our results indicate that the surface tension effect, which is negligible on a flat disk, apparently suppresses depletion by enforcing a bottleneck effect around the disk pattern peak regions to thwart the migration of lubricants. When the disjoining pressure is relatively small, it assists the depletion. But, when the disjoining pressure becomes dominant, the disjoining pressure resists depletion. Disk pattern orientation plays a critical role in the depletion process. The effect of disk pattern orientation on depletion originates from its complex interaction with other intermingled factors of external air shearing stress distribution and lubricant particle trajectory. Patterning a disk surface with nanostructures of high density, large height/pitch ratio, and particular orientation is demonstrated to be one efficient way to alleviate the formation of lubricant depletion tracks.

Non-blackbody Disks Can Help Explain Inferred AGN Accretion Disk Sizes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Patrick B.; Sarrouh, Ghassan T.; Horne, Keith

2018-02-01

If the atmospheric density {ρ }atm} in the accretion disk of an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is sufficiently low, scattering in the atmosphere can produce a non-blackbody emergent spectrum. For a given bolometric luminosity, at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths such disks have lower fluxes and apparently larger sizes as compared to disks that emit as blackbodies. We show that models in which {ρ }atm} is a sufficiently low fixed fraction of the interior density ρ can match the AGN STORM observations of NGC 5548 but produce disk spectral energy distributions that peak at shorter wavelengths than observed in luminous AGN in general. Thus, scattering atmospheres can contribute to the explanation for large inferred AGN accretion disk sizes but are unlikely to be the only contributor. In the appendix section, we present unified equations for the interior ρ and T in gas pressure-dominated regions of a thin accretion disk.

On the effects of tidal interaction on thin accretion disks: An analytic study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dgani, R.; Livio, M.; Regev, O.

1994-01-01

We calculate tidal effects on two-dimensional thin accretion disks in binary systems. We apply a perturbation expansion to obtain an analytic solution of the tidally induced waves. We obtain spiral waves that are stronger at the inner parts of the disks, in addition to a local disturbance which scales like the strength of the local tidal force. Our results agree with recent calculations of the linear response of the disk to tidal interaction.

Bimodal star formation - Constraints from the solar neighborhood

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wyse, Rosemary F. G.; Silk, J.

1987-01-01

The chemical evolution resulting from a simple model of bimodal star formulation is investigated, using constraints from the solar neighborhood to set the parameters of the initial mass function and star formation rate. The two modes are an exclusively massive star mode, which forms stars at an exponentially declining rate, and a mode which contains stars of all masses and has a constant star formation rate. Satisfactory agreement with the age-metallicity relation for the thin disk and with the metallicity structure of the thin-disk and spheroid stars is possible only for a small range of parameter values. The preferred model offers a resolution to several of the long-standing problems of galactic chemical evolution, including explanations of the age-metallicity relation, the gas consumption time scale, and the stellar cumulative metallicity distributions.

Dynamical evolution of dense star clusters in galactic nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haas, Jaroslav; Šubr, Ladislav

2014-05-01

By means of direct numerical N-body modeling, we investigate the orbital evolution of an initially thin, central mass dominated stellar disk. We include the perturbative gravitational influence of an extended spherically symmetric star cluster and the mutual gravitational interaction of the stars within the disk. Our results show that the two-body relaxation of the disk leads to significant changes of its radial density profile. In particular, the disk naturally evolves, for a variety of initial configurations, a similar broken power-law surface density profile. Hence, it appears that the single power-law surface density profile ∝R -2 suggested by various authors to describe the young stellar disk observed in the Sgr A* region does not match theoretical expectations.

Radially Magnetized Protoplanetary Disk: Vertical Profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, Matthew; Thompson, Christopher

2015-11-01

This paper studies the response of a thin accretion disk to an external radial magnetic field. Our focus is on protoplanetary disks (PPDs), which are exposed during their later evolution to an intense, magnetized wind from the central star. A radial magnetic field is mixed into a thin surface layer, wound up by the disk shear, and pushed downward by a combination of turbulent mixing and ambipolar and ohmic drift. The toroidal field reaches much greater strengths than the seed vertical field that is usually invoked in PPD models, even becoming superthermal. Linear stability analysis indicates that the disk experiences the magnetorotational instability (MRI) at a higher magnetization than a vertically magnetized disk when both the effects of ambipolar and Hall drift are taken into account. Steady vertical profiles of density and magnetic field are obtained at several radii between 0.06 and 1 AU in response to a wind magnetic field Br ˜ (10-4-10-2)(r/ AU)-2 G. Careful attention is given to the radial and vertical ionization structure resulting from irradiation by stellar X-rays. The disk is more strongly magnetized closer to the star, where it can support a higher rate of mass transfer. As a result, the inner ˜1 AU of a PPD is found to evolve toward lower surface density. Mass transfer rates around 10-8 M⊙ yr-1 are obtained under conservative assumptions about the MRI-generated stress. The evolution of the disk and the implications for planet migration are investigated in the accompanying paper.

Evolution of dynamo-generated magnetic fields in accretion disks around compact and young stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stepinski, Tomasz F.

1994-01-01

Geometrically thin, optically thick, turbulent accretion disks are believed to surround many stars. Some of them are the compact components of close binaries, while the others are throught to be T Tauri stars. These accretion disks must be magnetized objects because the accreted matter, whether it comes from the companion star (binaries) or from a collapsing molecular cloud core (single young stars), carries an embedded magnetic field. In addition, most accretion disks are hot and turbulent, thus meeting the condition for the MHD turbulent dynamo to maintain and amplify any seed field magnetic field. In fact, for a disk's magnetic field to persist long enough in comparison with the disk viscous time it must be contemporaneously regenerated because the characteristic diffusion time of a magnetic field is typically much shorter than a disk's viscous time. This is true for most thin accretion disks. Consequently, studying magentic fields in thin disks is usually synonymous with studying magnetic dynamos, a fact that is not commonly recognized in the literature. Progress in studying the structure of many accretion disks was achieved mainly because most disks can be regarded as two-dimensional flows in which vertical and radial structures are largely decoupled. By analogy, in a thin disk, one may expect that vertical and radial structures of the magnetic field are decoupled because the magnetic field diffuses more rapidly to the vertical boundary of the disk than along the radius. Thus, an asymptotic method, called an adiabatic approximation, can be applied to accretion disk dynamo. We can represent the solution to the dynamo equation in the form B = Q(r)b(r,z), where Q(r) describes the field distribution along the radius, while the field distribution across the disk is included in the vector function b, which parametrically depends on r and is normalized by the condition max (b(z)) = 1. The field distribution across the disk is established rapidly, while the radial distribution Q(r) evolves on a considerably longer timescale. It is this evolution that is the subject of this paper.

Modeling transiting circumstellar disks: characterizing the newly discovered eclipsing disk system OGLE LMC-ECL-11893

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scott, Erin L.; Mamajek, Eric E.; Pecaut, Mark J.

2014-12-10

We investigate the nature of the unusual eclipsing star OGLE LMC-ECL-11893 (OGLE J05172127-6900558) in the Large Magellanic Cloud recently reported by Dong et al. The eclipse period for this star is 468 days, and the eclipses exhibit a minimum of ∼1.4 mag, preceded by a plateau of ∼0.8 mag. Spectra and optical/IR photometry are consistent with the eclipsed star being a lightly reddened B9III star of inferred age ∼150 Myr and mass ∼4 M {sub ☉}. The disk appears to have an outer radius of ∼0.2 AU with predicted temperatures of ∼1100-1400 K. We model the eclipses as being duemore » to either a transiting geometrically thin dust disk or gaseous accretion disk around a secondary object; the debris disk produces a better fit. We speculate on the origin of such a dense circumstellar dust disk structure orbiting a relatively old low-mass companion, and on the similarities of this system to the previously discovered EE Cep.« less

Accretion disk modeling of AGN continuum using non-LTE stellar atmospheres. [active galactic nuclei (AGN)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sun, Wei-Hsin; Malkan, Matthew A.

1988-01-01

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) accretion disk spectra were calculated using non-LTE stellar atmosphere models for Kerr and Schwarzschild geometries. It is found that the Lyman limit absorption edge, probably the most conclusive observational evidence for the accretion disk, would be drastically distorted and displaced by the relativistic effects from the large gravitational field of the central black hole and strong Doppler motion of emitting material on the disk surface. These effects are especially pronounced in the Kerr geometry. The strength of the Lyman limit absorption is very sensitive to the surface gravity in the stellar atmosphere models used. For models at the same temperature but different surface gravities, the strength of the Lyman edge exhibits an almost exponential decrease as the surface gravity approach the Eddington limit, which should approximate the thin disk atmosphere. The relativistic effects as well as the vanishing of the Lyman edge at the Eddington gravity may be the reasons that not many Lyman edges in the rest frames of AGNs and quasars are found.

How Do The Relativistic Effects Effect the Appearance of a Clothed Black Hole?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Xiaoling; Zhang, S. N.; Feng, Yuxin; Yao, Yangsen

2002-01-01

For an accretion disk around a black hole, the strong relativistic effects affect every aspect of the radiation from the disk, including the spectrum, the light-curve, and the image. If the disk is in high inclination angle (nearly edge-on), the image will be greatly distorted; the farther side of the disk will appear to bend toward the observer, photons from the other side of the disk can reach the observer (if they are not blocked by the disk) to form a ghost image. This work differs mainly from previous work by taking into account the temperature distribution of a standard thin disk model and investigating the expected images from different viewing angles and in different energy bands. The edge-blocking effect is also considered. Direct images of black hole systems may be obtained with future X-ray missions like MAXIM pathfinder.

Interaction of the accretion flows in corona and disk near the black hole in active galactic nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer-Hofmeister, E.; Liu, B. F.; Qiao, E.

2017-11-01

Context. Accretion flows toward black holes can be of a quite different nature, described as an optically thick cool gas flow in a disk for high accretion rates or as a hot coronal optically thin gas flow for low accretion rates, possibly affected by outflowing gas. Aims: The detection of broad iron emission lines in active galactic nuclei (AGN) indicates the coexistence of corona and disk. The appearance and relative strength of such flows essentially depends on their interaction. Liu et al. suggested that condensation of gas from the corona to the disk allows to understand accretion flows of comparable strength of emission. Matter inflow due to gravitational capture of gas is important for the condensation process. We discuss observational features predicted by the model. Methods: Data from simultaneous observations of AGN with Swift's X-ray and UV-optical telescopes are compared with the theoretical predictions. Results: The frequent detection of broad iron Kα emission lines and the dependence of the emitted spectra on the Eddington ratio, described by the values of the photon index Γ and the two-point spectral index αox are in approximate agreement with the predictions of the condensation model; the latter, however, with a large scatter. The model further yields a coronal emission concentrated in a narrow inner region as is also deduced from the analysis of emissivity profiles. Conclusions: The accretion flows in bright AGN could be described by the accretion of stellar wind or interstellar medium and its condensation into a thin disk.

Composite Yb:YAG/SiC-prism thin disk laser.

PubMed

Newburgh, G A; Michael, A; Dubinskii, M

2010-08-02

We report the first demonstration of a Yb:YAG thin disk laser wherein the gain medium is intracavity face-cooled through bonding to an optical quality SiC prism. Due to the particular design of the composite bonded Yb:YAG/SiC-prism gain element, the laser beam impinges on all refractive index interfaces inside the laser cavity at Brewster's angles. The laser beam undergoes total internal reflection (TIR) at the bottom of the Yb(10%):YAG thin disk layer in a V-bounce cavity configuration. Through the use of TIR and Brewster's angles, no optical coatings, either anti-reflective (AR) or highly reflective (HR), are required inside the laser cavity. In this first demonstration, the 936.5-nm diode pumped laser performed with approximately 38% slope efficiency at 12 W of quasi-CW (Q-CW) output power at 1030 nm with a beam quality measured at M(2) = 1.5. This demonstration opens up a viable path toward novel thin disk laser designs with efficient double-sided room-temperature heatsinking via materials with the thermal conductivity of copper on both sides of the disk.

Dissipation of circumstellar disks of Be stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabogal, B. E.; Ubaque, K. Y.; García-Varela, A.; álvarez, M.; Salas, L.

2017-07-01

Studies of L-band spectra of Be stars are useful to set constraints to the models of formation and evolution mechanisms of the circumstellar disks around these stars. Because few such studies have been performed, more of them are needed to confirm the characteristics reported about the optical depth and evolution of these disks. In this work, we studied new L-band spectra of 7 bright galactic Be stars that were obtained by using CID-InSb spectrograph at the 2.1-m telescope at OAN/UNAM San Pedro Martir Observatory, Baja California, Mexico. We used these data to locate these stars, and the Be stars previously studied in the IR, on a flux ratio diagram (log Hu14/Pfγ vs log Hu14/Brα). We found that 28 Cyg has moved significantly along this diagram implying strong changes of its disk from optically thick to an optically thin one between 2001 and 2014. On the base of the absence of emission lines in the spectra, the circumstellar disks of θ CrB and 66 Oph have been almost totally dissipated. These three stars have decaying circumstellar disks. The other stars: γ Cas, φ Per, 28 Tau and o Her have optically thin disks, that have been almost stable in time. It will be important monitoring these and other Be stars in the L-band to observe the changes on their circumstellar disks, and to observe also in this band, the building-up stars, i.e. stars that create a new disk, or that change it from a very tenuous one to an optically thick circumstellar disk. Our spectra contribute to enlarge the infrared spectroscopic database of Be stars.

Dynamo magnetic field modes in thin astrophysical disks - An adiabatic computational approximation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stepinski, T. F.; Levy, E. H.

1991-01-01

An adiabatic approximation is applied to the calculation of turbulent MHD dynamo magnetic fields in thin disks. The adiabatic method is employed to investigate conditions under which magnetic fields generated by disk dynamos permeate the entire disk or are localized to restricted regions of a disk. Two specific cases of Keplerian disks are considered. In the first, magnetic field diffusion is assumed to be dominated by turbulent mixing leading to a dynamo number independent of distance from the center of the disk. In the second, the dynamo number is allowed to vary with distance from the disk's center. Localization of dynamo magnetic field structures is found to be a general feature of disk dynamos, except in the special case of stationary modes in dynamos with constant dynamo number. The implications for the dynamical behavior of dynamo magnetized accretion disks are discussed and the results of these exploratory calculations are examined in the context of the protosolar nebula and accretion disks around compact objects.

Center-to-Limb Variability of Hot Coronal EUV Emissions During Solar Flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiemann, E. M. B.; Chamberlin, P. C.; Eparvier, F. G.; Epp, L.

2018-02-01

It is generally accepted that densities of quiet-Sun and active region plasma are sufficiently low to justify the optically thin approximation, and this is commonly used in the analysis of line emissions from plasma in the solar corona. However, the densities of solar flare loops are substantially higher, compromising the optically thin approximation. This study begins with a radiative transfer model that uses typical solar flare densities and geometries to show that hot coronal emission lines are not generally optically thin. Furthermore, the model demonstrates that the observed line intensity should exhibit center-to-limb variability (CTLV), with flares observed near the limb being dimmer than those occurring near disk center. The model predictions are validated with an analysis of over 200 flares observed by the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which uses six lines, with peak formation temperatures between 8.9 and 15.8 MK, to show that limb flares are systematically dimmer than disk-center flares. The data are then used to show that the electron column density along the line of sight typically increases by 1.76 × 10^{19} cm^{-2} for limb flares over the disk-center flare value. It is shown that the CTLV of hot coronal emissions reduces the amount of ionizing radiation propagating into the solar system, and it changes the relative intensities of lines and bands commonly used for spectral analysis.

Exploring Our Galaxy's Thick Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-12-01

What is the structure of the Milky Ways disk, and how did it form? A new study uses giant stars to explore these questions.A View from the InsideSchematic showing an edge-on, not-to-scale view of what we think the Milky Ways structurelookslike. The thick disk is shown in yellow and the thin disk is shown in green. [Gaba p]Spiral galaxies like ours are often observed to have disks consisting of two components: a thin disk that lies close to the galactic midplane, and a thick disk that extends above and below this. Past studies have suggested that the Milky Ways disk hosts the same structure, but our position embedded in the Milky Way makes this difficult to confirm.If we can measure the properties of a broad sample of distant tracer stars and use this to better understand the construction of the Milky Ways disk, then we can start to ask additional questions like, how did the disk components form? Formation pictures for the thick disk generally fall into two categories:Stars in the thick disk formed within the Milky Way either in situ or by migrating to their current locations.Stars in the thick disk formed in satellite galaxies around the Milky Way and then accreted when the satellites were disrupted.Scientists Chengdong Li and Gang Zhao (NAO Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences) have now used observations of giant stars which can be detected out to great distances due to their brightness to trace the properties of the Milky Ways thick disk and address the question of its origin.Best fits for the radial (top) and vertical (bottom) metallicity gradients of the thick-disk stars. [Adapted from Li Zhao 2017]Probing OriginsLi and Zhao used data from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) in China to examine a sample of 35,000 giant stars. The authors sorted these stars into different disk components halo, thin disk, and thick disk based on their kinematic properties, and then explored how the orbital and chemical properties of these stars differed in the different components.Li and Zhao found that the scale length for the thick disk is roughly the same as that of the thin disk ( 3 kpc), i.e., both disk components extend out to the same radial distance. The scale height found for the thick disk is 1 kpc, compared to the thin disks few hundred parsecs or so.The metallicity of the thick-disk stars is roughly constant with radius; this could be a consequence of radial migration of the stars within the disk, which blurs any metallicity distribution that might have once been there. The metallicity of the stars decreases with distance above or below the galactic midplane, however a result consistent with formation of the thick disk via heating or radial migration of stars formed within the galaxy.Orbital eccentricity distribution for the thick-disk stars. [Li Zhao 2017]Further supporting these formation scenarios, the orbital eccentricities of the stars in the authors thick-disk sample indicate that they were born in the Milky Way, not accreted from disrupted satellites.The authors acknowledge that the findings in this study may still be influenced by selection effects resulting from our viewpoint within our galaxy. Nonetheless, this is interesting new data to add to our understanding of the structure and origins of the Milky Ways disk.CitationChengdong Li and Gang Zhao 2017 ApJ 850 25. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa93f4

ALMA Observations of Polarization from Dust Scattering in the IM Lup Protoplanetary Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hull, Charles L. H.; Yang, Haifeng; Li, Zhi-Yun; Kataoka, Akimasa; Stephens, Ian W.; Andrews, Sean; Bai, Xuening; Cleeves, L. Ilsedore; Hughes, A. Meredith; Looney, Leslie; Pérez, Laura M.; Wilner, David

2018-06-01

We present 870 μm ALMA observations of polarized dust emission toward the Class II protoplanetary disk IM Lup. We find that the orientation of the polarized emission is along the minor axis of the disk, and that the value of the polarization fraction increases steadily toward the center of the disk, reaching a peak value of ∼1.1%. All of these characteristics are consistent with models of self-scattering of submillimeter-wave emission from an optically thin inclined disk. The distribution of the polarization position angles across the disk reveals that, while the average orientation is along the minor axis, the polarization orientations show a significant spread in angles; this can also be explained by models of pure scattering. We compare the polarization with that of the Class I/II source HL Tau. A comparison of cuts of the polarization fraction across the major and minor axes of both sources reveals that IM Lup has a substantially higher polarization fraction than HL Tau toward the center of the disk. This enhanced polarization fraction could be due a number of factors, including higher optical depth in HL Tau, or scattering by larger dust grains in the more evolved IM Lup disk. However, models yield similar maximum grain sizes for both HL Tau (72 μm) and IM Lup (61 μm, this work). This reveals continued tension between grain-size estimates from scattering models and from models of the dust emission spectrum, which find that the bulk of the (unpolarized) emission in disks is most likely due to millimeter-sized (or even centimeter-sized) grains.

Interaction between a pulsating jet and a surrounding disk wind. A hydrodynamical perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabone, B.; Raga, A.; Cabrit, S.; Pineau des Forêts, G.

2018-06-01

Context. The molecular richness of fast protostellar jets within 20-100 au of their source, despite strong ultraviolet irradiation, remains a challenge for the models investigated so far. Aim.We aim to investigate the effect of interaction between a time-variable jet and a surrounding steady disk wind, to assess the possibility of jet chemical enrichement by the wind, and the characteristic signatures of such a configuration. Methods: We have constructed an analytic model of a jet bow shock driven into a surrounding slower disk wind in the thin shell approximation. The refilling of the post bow shock cavity from below by the disk wind is also studied. An extension of the model to the case of two or more successive internal working surfaces (IWS) is made. We then compared this analytic model with numerical simulations with and without a surrounding disk wind. Results: We find that at early times (of order the variability period), jet bow shocks travel in refilled pristine disk wind material, before interacting with the cocoon of older bow shocks. This opens the possibility of bow shock chemical enrichment (if the disk wind is molecular and dusty) and of probing the unperturbed disk wind structure near the jet base. Several distinctive signatures of the presence of a surrounding disk wind are identified, in the bow shock morphology and kinematics. Numerical simulations validate our analytical approach and further show that at large scale, the passage of many jet IWS inside a disk wind produces a stationary V-shaped cavity, closing down onto the axis at a finite distance from the source.

HST Spatially Resolved Spectra of the Accretion Disc and Gas Stream of the Nova-Like Variable UX Ursae Majoris

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baptista, Raymundo; Horne, Keith; Wade, Richard A.; Hubeny, Ivan; Long, Knox S.; Rutten, Rene G. M.

1998-01-01

Time-resolved eclipse spectroscopy of the nova-like variable UX UMa obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope/Faint Object Spectrograph (HST/FOS) on 1994 August and November is analysed with eclipse mapping techniques to produce spatially resolved spectra of its accretion disk and gas stream as a function of distance from the disk centre. The inner accretion disk is characterized by a blue continuum filled with absorption bands and lines, which cross over to emission with increasing disk radius, similar to that reported at optical wavelengths. The comparison of spatially resolved spectra at different azimuths reveals a significant asymmetry in the disk emission at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, with the disk side closest to the secondary star showing pronounced absorption by an 'iron curtain' and a Balmer jump in absorption. These results suggest the existence of an absorbing ring of cold gas whose density and/or vertical scale increase with disk radius. The spectrum of the infalling gas stream is noticeably different from the disc spectrum at the same radius suggesting that gas overflows through the impact point at the disk rim and continues along the stream trajectory, producing distinct emission down to 0.1 R(sub LI). The spectrum of the uneclipsed light shows prominent emission lines of Lyalpha, N v lambda1241, SiIV Lambda 1400, C IV Lambda 1550, HeII Lambda 1640, and MgII Lambda 2800, and a UV continuum rising towards longer wavelengths. The Balmer jump appears clearly in emission indicating that the uneclipsed light has an important contribution from optically thin gas. The lines and optically thin continuum emission are most probably emitted in a vertically extended disk chromosphere + wind. The radial temperature profiles of the continuum maps are well described by a steady-state disc model in the inner and intermediate disk regions (R greater than or equal to 0.3R(sub LI) ). There is evidence of an increase in the mass accretion rate from August to November (from V = 10 (exp -8.3 +/-0.1) to 10(exp -8.1 +/- 0.1 solar mass yr(exp -1)), in accordance with the observed increase in brightness. Since the UX UMA disc seems to be in a high mass accretion, high-viscosity regime in both epochs, this result suggests that the mass transfer rate of UX UMA varies substantially (approximately equal to 50 per cent) on time-scales of a few months. It is suggested that the reason for the discrepancies between the prediction of the standard disk model and observations is not an inadequate treatment of radiative transfer in the disc atmosphere, but rather the presence of addition important sources of light in the system besides the accretion disk (e.g., optically thin contiuum emission from the disk wind and possible absorption by circumstellar cool gas).

The warped disk of Centaurus A in the near-infrared

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quillen, A. C.; Graham, James R.; Frogel, Jay A.

1993-01-01

We present infrared images of Cen A (NGC 5128) in the J, H, and K bands. The infrared morphology is primarily determined by the presence of a thin absorptive warped disk. By integrating the light of the underlying prolate galaxy through such a disk, we construct models which we compare with infrared and X-ray data. The geometry of the warped disk needed to fit the IR data is consistent with a warped disk which has evolved as a result of differential precession in a prolate potential. The disk has an inclination, with respect to the principal axis of the underlying elliptical galaxy, that is higher at larger radii than in the inner region. A scenario is proposed where a small gas-rich galaxy infalling under the force of dynamical friction is tidally stripped. Stripping occurs at different times during its infall. The orientation of the resulting gas disk depends upon the angular momentum of the infalling galaxy. We find that the resulting precession angle of the disk is well described by the precession model, but that the inclination angle may vary as a function of radius. We propose an orbit for the infalling galaxy that is consistent with the geometry of the warped disk needed to fit our infrared data, and rotation observed in the outer part of the galaxy.

Herschel PACS Observations of 4–10 Myr Old Classical T Tauri Stars in Orion OB1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maucó, Karina; Briceño, César; Calvet, Nuria; Hernández, Jesús; Ballesteros-Paredes, Javier; González, Omaira; Espaillat, Catherine C.; Li, Dan; Telesco, Charles M.; José Downes, Juan; Macías, Enrique; Qi, Chunhua; Michel, Raúl; D’Alessio, Paola; Ali, Babar

2018-05-01

We present Herschel PACS observations of eight classical T Tauri Stars in the ∼7–10 Myr old OB1a and the ∼4–5 Myr old OB1b Orion subassociations. Detailed modeling of the broadband spectral energy distributions, particularly the strong silicate emission at 10 μm, shows that these objects are (pre-)transitional disks with some amount of small optically thin dust inside their cavities, ranging from ∼4 to ∼90 au in size. We analyzed Spitzer IRS spectra for two objects in the sample: CVSO-107 and CVSO-109. The IRS spectrum of CVSO-107 indicates the presence of crystalline material inside its gap, while the silicate feature of CVSO-109 is characterized by a pristine profile produced by amorphous silicates; the mechanisms creating the optically thin dust seem to depend on disk local conditions. Using millimeter photometry, we estimated dust disk masses for CVSO-107 and CVSO-109 lower than the minimum mass of solids needed to form the planets in our solar system, which suggests that giant planet formation should be over in these disks. We speculate that the presence and maintenance of optically thick material in the inner regions of these pre-transitional disks might point to low-mass planet formation.

Quasar Accretion Disk Sizes With Continuum Reverberation Mapping From the Dark Energy Survey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mudd, D.; et al.

We present accretion disk size measurements for 15 luminous quasars atmore » $$0.7 \\leq z \\leq 1.9$$ derived from $griz$ light curves from the Dark Energy Survey. We measure the disk sizes with continuum reverberation mapping using two methods, both of which are derived from the expectation that accretion disks have a radial temperature gradient and the continuum emission at a given radius is well-described by a single blackbody. In the first method we measure the relative lags between the multiband light curves, which provides the relative time lag between shorter and longer wavelength variations. The second method fits the model parameters for the canonical Shakura-Sunyaev thin disk directly rather than solving for the individual time lags between the light curves. Our measurements demonstrate good agreement with the sizes predicted by this model for accretion rates between 0.3-1 times the Eddington rate. These results are also in reasonable agreement with disk size measurements from gravitational microlensing studies of strongly lensed quasars, as well as other photometric reverberation mapping results.« less

Strong vortex core pinning and Barkhausen-free magnetization response in thin Permalloy disks induced by implantation of 1 × 10{sup 4} Ga{sup +} ions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fani Sani, F., E-mail: fanisani@ualberta.ca, E-mail: mark.freeman@ualberta.ca; Losby, J. E.; Diao, Z.

2014-05-07

Artificial vortex core pinning sites are induced in thin Permalloy disks by point exposure to as few as 10 000 ions from a focused Ga{sup +} beam. These pinning sites yield a first-order change in the magnetization response of the disk. A single site can keep the vortex core pinned over an applied field range comparable to the vortex annihilation field of the unaltered disk. Several widely separated sites can work together to keep the core pinned in one place, while the Barkhausen effect is eliminated from the magnetization curve over a range approaching the saturation moment of the disk.

Innovative opto-mechanical design of a laser head for compact thin-disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macúchová, Karolina; Smrž, Martin; Řeháková, Martina; Mocek, Tomáš

2016-11-01

We present recent progress in design of innovative versatile laser head for lasers based on thin-disk architecture which are being constructed at the HiLASE centre of the IOP in the Czech Republic. Concept of thin-disk laser technology allows construction of lasers providing excellent beam quality with high average output power and optical efficiency. Our newly designed thin-disk carrier and pump module comes from optical scheme consisting of a parabolic mirror and roof mirrors proposed in 90's. However, mechanical parts and a cooling system were in-house simplified and tailor-made to medium power lasers since no suitable setup was commercially available. Proposed opto-mechanical design is based on stable yet easily adjustable mechanics. The only water nozzle-cooled component is a room-temperature-operated thindisk mounted on a special cooling finger. Cooling of pump optics was replaced by heat conductive transfer from mirrors made of special Al alloy to a massive brass baseplate. Such mirrors are easy to manufacture and very cheap. Presented laser head was manufactured and tested in construction of Er and Yb doped disk lasers. Details of the latest design will be presented.

Observations of Circumstellar Disks with Infrared Interferometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akeson, Rachel

2008-01-01

Star formation is arguably the area of astrophysics in which infrared interferometry has had the biggest impact. The optically thick portion of T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be disks DO NOT extend to a few stellar radii of the stellar surface. Emission is coming from near the dust sublimation radius, but not all from a single radius. The Herbig Ae stars can be either flared or self-shadowed but very massive (early Be) stars are geometrically thin. The Herbig Ae stars can be either flared or self-shadowed but very massive (early Be) stars are geometrically thin. Observational prospects are rapidly improving: a) Higher spectral resolution will allow observations of the gas: jets, winds, accretion. b) Closure phase and imaging will help eliminate model uncertainties/dependencies.

The Geometry of Resonant Signatures in Debris Disks with Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuchner, M. J.; Holman, M. J.

2002-09-01

Using simple geometrical arguments, we paint an overview of the variety of resonant structures a single planet with moderate eccentricity (e < 0.6) can create in a dynamically cold, optically thin dust disk. This overview may serve as a key for interpreting images of perturbed debris disks and inferring the dynamical properties of the planets responsible for the perturbations. We compare the resonant structures found in the solar system with observations of planetary systems around Vega and other stars and we offer a new model for the asymmetries in the Epsilon Eridani disk. This work was performed in part under contract with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) through the Michelson Fellowship program funded by NASA as an element of the Planet Finder Program.

Multilayer composites and manufacture of same

DOEpatents

Holesinger, Terry G.; Jia, Quanxi

2006-02-07

The present invention is directed towards a process of depositing multilayer thin films, disk-shaped targets for deposition of multilayer thin films by a pulsed laser or pulsed electron beam deposition process, where the disk-shaped targets include at least two segments with differing compositions, and a multilayer thin film structure having alternating layers of a first composition and a second composition, a pair of the alternating layers defining a bi-layer wherein the thin film structure includes at least 20 bi-layers per micron of thin film such that an individual bi-layer has a thickness of less than about 100 nanometers.

Evolving Gravitationally Unstable Disks over Cosmic Time: Implications for Thick Disk Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forbes, John; Krumholz, Mark; Burkert, Andreas

2012-07-01

Observations of disk galaxies at z ~ 2 have demonstrated that turbulence driven by gravitational instability can dominate the energetics of the disk. We present a one-dimensional simulation code, which we have made publicly available, that economically evolves these galaxies from z ~ 2 to z ~ 0 on a single CPU in a matter of minutes, tracking column density, metallicity, and velocity dispersions of gaseous and multiple stellar components. We include an H2-regulated star formation law and the effects of stellar heating by transient spiral structure. We use this code to demonstrate a possible explanation for the existence of a thin and thick disk stellar population and the age-velocity-dispersion correlation of stars in the solar neighborhood: the high velocity dispersion of gas in disks at z ~ 2 decreases along with the cosmological accretion rate, while at lower redshift the dynamically colder gas forms the low velocity dispersion stars of the thin disk.

The AMBRE project: The thick thin disk and thin thick disk of the Milky Way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayden, M. R.; Recio-Blanco, A.; de Laverny, P.; Mikolaitis, S.; Worley, C. C.

2017-11-01

We analyze 494 main sequence turnoff and subgiant stars from the AMBRE:HARPS survey. These stars have accurate astrometric information from Gaia DR1, providing reliable age estimates with relative uncertainties of ±1 or 2 Gyr and allowing precise orbital determinations. The sample is split based on chemistry into a low-[Mg/Fe] sequence, which are often identified as thin disk stellar populations, and high-[Mg/Fe] sequence, which are often associated with thick disk stellar populations. We find that the high-[Mg/Fe] chemical sequence has extended star formation for several Gyr and is coeval with the oldest stars of the low-[Mg/Fe] chemical sequence: both the low- and high-[Mg/Fe] sequences were forming stars at the same time. We find that the high-[Mg/Fe] stellar populations are only vertically extended for the oldest, most-metal poor and highest [Mg/Fe] stars. When comparing vertical velocity dispersion for the low- and high-[Mg/Fe] sequences, the high-[Mg/Fe] sequence has lower vertical velocity dispersion than the low-[Mg/Fe] sequence for stars of similar age. This means that identifying either group as thin or thick disk based on chemistry is misleading. The stars belonging to the high-[Mg/Fe] sequence have perigalacticons that originate in the inner disk, while the perigalacticons of stars on the low-[Mg/Fe] sequence are generally around the solar neighborhood. From the orbital properties of the stars, the high-[Mg/Fe] and low-[Mg/Fe] sequences are most likely a reflection of the chemical enrichment history of the inner and outer disk populations, respectively; radial mixing causes both populations to be observed in situ at the solar position. Based on these results, we emphasize that it is important to be clear in defining what populations are being referenced when using the terms thin and thick disk, and that ideally the term thick disk should be reserved for purely geometric definitions to avoid confusion and be consistent with definitions in external galaxies.

Continuum Reverberation Mapping of the Accretion Disks in Two Seyfert 1 Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fausnaugh, M. M.; Starkey, D. A.; Horne, Keith; Kochanek, C. S.; Peterson, B. M.; Bentz, M. C.; Denney, K. D.; Grier, C. J.; Grupe, D.; Pogge, R. W.; De Rosa, G.; Adams, S. M.; Barth, A. J.; Beatty, Thomas G.; Bhattacharjee, A.; Borman, G. A.; Boroson, T. A.; Bottorff, M. C.; Brown, Jacob E.; Brown, Jonathan S.; Brotherton, M. S.; Coker, C. T.; Crawford, S. M.; Croxall, K. V.; Eftekharzadeh, Sarah; Eracleous, Michael; Joner, M. D.; Henderson, C. B.; Holoien, T. W.-S.; Hutchison, T.; Kaspi, Shai; Kim, S.; King, Anthea L.; Li, Miao; Lochhaas, Cassandra; Ma, Zhiyuan; MacInnis, F.; Manne-Nicholas, E. R.; Mason, M.; Montuori, Carmen; Mosquera, Ana; Mudd, Dale; Musso, R.; Nazarov, S. V.; Nguyen, M. L.; Okhmat, D. N.; Onken, Christopher A.; Ou-Yang, B.; Pancoast, A.; Pei, L.; Penny, Matthew T.; Poleski, Radosław; Rafter, Stephen; Romero-Colmenero, E.; Runnoe, Jessie; Sand, David J.; Schimoia, Jaderson S.; Sergeev, S. G.; Shappee, B. J.; Simonian, Gregory V.; Somers, Garrett; Spencer, M.; Stevens, Daniel J.; Tayar, Jamie; Treu, T.; Valenti, Stefano; Van Saders, J.; Villanueva, S., Jr.; Villforth, C.; Weiss, Yaniv; Winkler, H.; Zhu, W.

2018-02-01

We present optical continuum lags for two Seyfert 1 galaxies, MCG+08-11-011 and NGC 2617, using monitoring data from a reverberation mapping campaign carried out in 2014. Our light curves span the ugriz filters over four months, with median cadences of 1.0 and 0.6 days for MCG+08-11-011 and NGC 2617, respectively, combined with roughly daily X-ray and near-UV data from Swift for NGC 2617. We find lags consistent with geometrically thin accretion-disk models that predict a lag-wavelength relation of τ ∝ λ 4/3. However, the observed lags are larger than predictions based on standard thin-disk theory by factors of 3.3 for MCG+08-11-011 and 2.3 for NGC 2617. These differences can be explained if the mass accretion rates are larger than inferred from the optical luminosity by a factor of 4.3 in MCG+08-11-011 and a factor of 1.3 in NGC 2617, although uncertainty in the SMBH masses determines the significance of this result. While the X-ray variability in NGC 2617 precedes the UV/optical variability, the long (2.6 day) lag is problematic for coronal reprocessing models.

RADIALLY MAGNETIZED PROTOPLANETARY DISK: VERTICAL PROFILE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Russo, Matthew; Thompson, Christopher

2015-11-10

This paper studies the response of a thin accretion disk to an external radial magnetic field. Our focus is on protoplanetary disks (PPDs), which are exposed during their later evolution to an intense, magnetized wind from the central star. A radial magnetic field is mixed into a thin surface layer, wound up by the disk shear, and pushed downward by a combination of turbulent mixing and ambipolar and ohmic drift. The toroidal field reaches much greater strengths than the seed vertical field that is usually invoked in PPD models, even becoming superthermal. Linear stability analysis indicates that the disk experiencesmore » the magnetorotational instability (MRI) at a higher magnetization than a vertically magnetized disk when both the effects of ambipolar and Hall drift are taken into account. Steady vertical profiles of density and magnetic field are obtained at several radii between 0.06 and 1 AU in response to a wind magnetic field B{sub r} ∼ (10{sup −4}–10{sup −2})(r/ AU){sup −2} G. Careful attention is given to the radial and vertical ionization structure resulting from irradiation by stellar X-rays. The disk is more strongly magnetized closer to the star, where it can support a higher rate of mass transfer. As a result, the inner ∼1 AU of a PPD is found to evolve toward lower surface density. Mass transfer rates around 10{sup −8} M{sub ⊙} yr{sup −1} are obtained under conservative assumptions about the MRI-generated stress. The evolution of the disk and the implications for planet migration are investigated in the accompanying paper.« less

Method for optical pumping of thin laser media at high average power

DOEpatents

Zapata, Luis E [Livermore, CA; Beach, Raymond J [Livermore, CA; Honea, Eric C [Sunol, CA; Payne, Stephen A [Castro Valley, CA

2004-07-13

A thin, planar laser material is bonded to a light guide of an index-matched material forming a composite disk. Diode array or other pump light is introduced into the composite disk through the edges of the disk. Pump light trapped within the composite disk depletes as it multi-passes the laser medium before reaching an opposing edge of the disk. The resulting compound optical structure efficiently delivers concentrated pump light and to a laser medium of minimum thickness. The external face of the laser medium is used for cooling. A high performance cooler attached to the external face of the laser medium rejects heat. Laser beam extraction is parallel to the heat flux to minimize optical distortions.

Single-frequency oscillation of thin-disk lasers due to phase-matched pumping.

PubMed

Vorholt, Christian; Wittrock, Ulrich

2017-09-04

We present a novel pump concept that should lead to single-frequency operation of thin-disk lasers without the need for etalons or other spectral filters. The single-frequency operation is due to matching the standing wave pattern of partially coherent pump light to the standing wave pattern of the laser light inside the disk. The output power and the optical efficiency of our novel pump concept are compared with conventional pumping. The feasibility of our pump concept was shown in previous experiments.

50-mJ, 1-kHz Yb:YAG thin-disk regenerative amplifier with 969-nm pulsed pumping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chyla, Michal; Miura, Taisuke; Smrž, Martin; Severova, Patricie; Novak, Ondrej; Endo, Akira; Mocek, Tomas

2014-02-01

We are developing a 100-mJ Yb:YAG thin-disk regenerative amplifier operating at 1-kHz repetition rate pumped at zero-phonon-line (968.825-nm1) and delivering 1-2 ps pulses for EUV plasma sources applicable in science and industry. Recently we achieved the output energy of nearly 50-mJ from a single laser-head cavity with good beam quality (M2<1.2) as well as stable beam-pointing (<4μrad). Applying pulsed pumping with the pulse duration shorter than the upper state lifetime of Yb:YAG helps to reduce the ASE and thermal loading of the thin-disk.

High-Contrast Near-Infrared Imaging Polarimetry of the Protoplanetary Disk around RY Tau

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Takami, Michihiro; Karr, Jennifer L.; Hashimoto, Jun; Kim, Hyosun; Wisenewski, John; Henning, Thomas; Grady, Carol; Kandori, Ryo; Hodapp, Klaus W.; Kudo, Tomoyuki;

A STUDY OF RO-VIBRATIONAL OH EMISSION FROM HERBIG Ae/Be STARS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brittain, Sean D.; Reynolds, Nickalas; Najita, Joan R.

2016-10-20

We present a study of ro-vibrational OH and CO emission from 21 disks around Herbig Ae/Be stars. We find that the OH and CO luminosities are proportional over a wide range of stellar ultraviolet luminosities. The OH and CO line profiles are also similar, indicating that they arise from roughly the same radial region of the disk. The CO and OH emission are both correlated with the far-ultraviolet luminosity of the stars, while the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) luminosity is correlated with the longer wavelength ultraviolet luminosity of the stars. Although disk flaring affects the PAH luminosity, it is notmore » a factor in the luminosity of the OH and CO emission. These properties are consistent with models of UV-irradiated disk atmospheres. We also find that the transition disks in our sample, which have large optically thin inner regions, have lower OH and CO luminosities than non-transition disk sources with similar ultraviolet luminosities. This result, while tentative given the small sample size, is consistent with the interpretation that transition disks lack a gaseous disk close to the star.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E.; Salyk, Colette, E-mail: sdr@astro.as.utexas.edu

Although there has yet been no undisputed discovery of a still-forming planet embedded in a gaseous protoplanetary disk, the cleared inner holes of transitional disks may be signposts of young planets. Here, we show that the subset of accreting transitional disks with wide, optically thin inner holes of 15 AU or more can only be sculpted by multiple planets orbiting inside each hole. Multiplanet systems provide two key ingredients for explaining the origins of transitional disks. First, multiple planets can clear wide inner holes where single planets open only narrow gaps. Second, the confined, non-axisymmetric accretion flows produced by multiplemore » planets provide a way for an arbitrary amount of mass transfer to occur through an apparently optically thin hole without overproducing infrared excess flux. Rather than assuming that the gas and dust in the hole are evenly and axisymmetrically distributed, one can construct an inner hole with apparently optically thin infrared fluxes by covering a macroscopic fraction of the hole's surface area with locally optically thick tidal tails. We also establish that other clearing mechanisms, such as photoevaporation, cannot explain our subset of accreting transitional disks with wide holes. Transitional disks are therefore high-value targets for observational searches for young planetary systems.« less

Trapping of Non-Axisymmetric g-Mode Oscillations in Thin Relativistic Disks and kHz QPOs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, Shoji

2001-10-01

We suggest that in the inner part of geometrically thin relativistic disks there are trapped non-axisymmetric g-mode oscillations which are excited by a corotation resonance. These oscillation modes would be the cause of quasi-periodic kHz oscillations observed in some low-mass X-ray sources.

Perturbation of a Schwarzschild Black Hole Due to a Rotating Thin Disk

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Čížek, P.; Semerák, O., E-mail: oldrich.semerak@mff.cuni.cz

Will, in 1974, treated the perturbation of a Schwarzschild black hole due to a slowly rotating, light, concentric thin ring by solving the perturbation equations in terms of a multipole expansion of the mass-and-rotation perturbation series. In the Schwarzschild background, his approach can be generalized to perturbation by a thin disk (which is more relevant astrophysically), but, due to rather bad convergence properties, the resulting expansions are not suitable for specific (numerical) computations. However, we show that Green’s functions, represented by Will’s result, can be expressed in closed form (without multipole expansion), which is more useful. In particular, they canmore » be integrated out over the source (a thin disk in our case) to yield good converging series both for the gravitational potential and for the dragging angular velocity. The procedure is demonstrated, in the first perturbation order, on the simplest case of a constant-density disk, including the physical interpretation of the results in terms of a one-component perfect fluid or a two-component dust in a circular orbit about the central black hole. Free parameters are chosen in such a way that the resulting black hole has zero angular momentum but non-zero angular velocity, as it is just carried along by the dragging effect of the disk.« less

Noncontact thermophysical property measurement by levitation of a thin liquid disk.

PubMed

Lee, Sungho; Ohsaka, Kenichi; Rednikov, Alexei; Sadhal, Satwindar Singh

2006-09-01

The purpose of the current research program is to develop techniques for noncontact measurement of thermophysical properties of highly viscous liquids. The application would be for undercooled liquids that remain liquid even below the freezing point when suspended without a container. The approach being used here consists of carrying out thermocapillary flow and temperature measurements in a horizontally levitated, laser-heated thin glycerin disk. In a levitated state, the disk is flattened by an intense acoustic field. Such a disk has the advantage of a relatively low gravitational potential over the thickness, thus mitigating the buoyancy effects, and helping isolate the thermocapillary-driven flows. For the purpose of predicting the thermal properties from these measurements, it is necessary to develop a theoretical model of the thermal processes. Such a model has been developed, and, on the basis of the observed shape, the thickness is taken to be a minimum at the center with a gentle parabolic profile at both the top and the bottom surfaces. This minimum thickness is much smaller than the radius of disk drop and the ratio of thickness to radius becomes much less than unity. It is heated by laser beam in normal direction to the edge. A general three-dimensional momentum equation is transformed into a two-variable vorticity equation. For the highly viscous liquid, a few millimeters in size, Stokes equations adequately describe the flow. Additional approximations are made by considering average flow properties over the disk thickness in a manner similar to lubrication theory. In the same way, the three-dimensional energy equation is averaged over the disk thickness. With convection boundary condition at the surfaces, we integrate a general three-dimensional energy equation to get an averaged two-dimensional energy equation that has convection terms, conduction terms, and additional source terms corresponding to a Biot number. A finite-difference numerical approach is used to solve these steady-state governing equations in the cylindrical coordinate system. The calculations yield the temperature distribution and the thermally driven flow field. These results have been used to formulate a model that, in conjunction with experiments, has enabled the development of a method for the noncontact thermophysical property measurement of liquids.

Three-Layered Atmospheric Structure in Accretion Disks Around Stellar-Mass Black Holes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, S. N.; Cui, Wei; Chen, Wan; Yao, Yangsen; Zhang, Xiaoling; Sun, Xuejun; Wu, Xue-Bing; Xu, Haiguang

2000-01-01

Modeling of the x-ray spectra of the Galactic superluminal jet sources GRS 1915+105 and GRO J1655-40 reveals a three-layered atmospheric structure in the inner region of the inner accretion disks. Above the cold and optically thick disk with a temperature of 0.2 to 0.5 kiloelectron volts, there is a warm layer with a temperature of 1.0 to 1.5 kiloelectron volts and an optical depth around 10. Sometimes there is also a much hotter, optically thin corona above the warm layer, with a temperature of 100 kiloelectron volts or higher and an optical depth around unity. The structural similarity between the accretion disks and the solar atmosphere suggests that similar physical processes may be operating in these different systems.

Three-layered atmospheric structure in accretion disks around stellar-mass black holes

PubMed

Zhang; Cui; Chen; Yao; Zhang; Sun; Wu; Xu

2000-02-18

Modeling of the x-ray spectra of the Galactic superluminal jet sources GRS 1915+105 and GRO J1655-40 reveals a three-layered atmospheric structure in the inner region of their accretion disks. Above the cold and optically thick disk with a temperature of 0.2 to 0.5 kiloelectron volts, there is a warm layer with a temperature of 1.0 to 1.5 kiloelectron volts and an optical depth around 10. Sometimes there is also a much hotter, optically thin corona above the warm layer, with a temperature of 100 kiloelectron volts or higher and an optical depth around unity. The structural similarity between the accretion disks and the solar atmosphere suggests that similar physical processes may be operating in these different systems.

Multipass pumped Nd-based thin-disk lasers: continuous-wave laser operation at 1.06 and 0.9 {mu}m with intracavity frequency doubling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pavel, Nicolaie; Luenstedt, Kai; Petermann, Klaus

2007-12-01

The laser performances of the 1.06 {mu}m 4F3/2 --> 4I11/2 four-level transition and of the 0.9 {mu}m 4F3/2 --> I9/24 quasi-three-level transition were investigated using multipass pumped Nd-based media in thin-disk geometry. When pumping at 0.81 {mu}m into the 4F5/2 level, continuous-wave laser operation was obtained with powers in excess of 10 W at 1.06 {mu}m, in the multiwatt region at 0.91 {mu}m in Nd:YVO4 and Nd:GdVO4, and at 0.95 {mu}m in Nd:YAG. Intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YVO4 thin-disk lasers with output powers of 6.4 W at 532 nm and of 1.6 W at 457 nm were realized at this pumping wavelength.more » The pumping at 0.88 {mu}m, which is directed into the 4F3/2 emitting level, was also employed, and Nd:YVO4 and Nd:GdVO4 thin-disk lasers with {approx}9 W output power at 1.06 {mu}m and visible laser radiation at 0.53 {mu}m with output power in excess of 4 W were realized. Frequency-doubled Nd:vanadate thin-disk lasers with deep blue emission at 0.46 {mu}m were obtained under pumping directly into the 4F3/2 emitting level.« less

A Steeper than Linear Disk Mass-Stellar Mass Scaling Relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pascucci, Ilaria; SLICK, EOS

2017-01-01

The disk mass is among the most important input parameter of planet formation models as it determines the number and masses of the planets that can form. I will present an ALMA 887 micron survey of the disk population around objects from 2 to 0.03Msun in the nearby 2 Myr-old Chamaeleon I star-forming region. Assuming isothermal and optically thin emission, we convert the 887 micron flux densities into dust disk masses (Mdust) and show that the Mdust-Mstar scaling relation is steeper than linear. By re-analyzing all millimeter data available for nearby regions in a self-consistent way, we find that the 1-3 Myr-old regions of Taurus, Lupus, and Chamaeleon I share the same Mdust-Mstar relation, while the 10 Myr-old Upper Sco association has an even steeper relation. Theoretical models of grain growth, drift, and fragmentation reproduce this trend and suggest that disks are in the fragmentation-limited regime. In this regime millimeter grains will be located closer in around lower-mass stars, a prediction that can be tested with deeper and higher spatial resolution ALMA observations.

Radiation Pressure-Driven Magnetic Disk Winds in Broad Absorption Line Quasi-Stellar Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DeKool, Martin; Begelman, Mitchell C.

1995-01-01

We explore a model in which QSO broad absorption lines (BALS) are formed in a radiation pressure-driven wind emerging from a magnetized accretion disk. The magnetic field threading the disk material is dragged by the flow and is compressed by the radiation pressure until it is dynamically important and strong enough to contribute to the confinement of the BAL clouds. We construct a simple self-similar model for such radiatively driven magnetized disk winds, in order to explore their properties. It is found that solutions exist for which the entire magnetized flow is confined to a thin wedge over the surface of the disk. For reasonable values of the mass-loss rate, a typical magnetic field strength such that the magnetic pressure is comparable to the inferred gas pressure in BAL clouds, and a moderate amount of internal soft X-ray absorption, we find that the opening angle of the flow is approximately 0.1 rad, in good agreement with the observed covering factor of the broad absorption line region.

Stability and Evolution of Supernova Fallback Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menou, Kristen; Perna, Rosalba; Hernquist, Lars

2001-10-01

We show that thin accretion disks made of carbon or oxygen are subject to the same thermal ionization instability as hydrogen and helium disks. We argue that the instability applies to disks of any metal content. The relevance of the instability to supernova fallback disks probably means that their power-law evolution breaks down when they first become neutral. We construct simple analytical models for the viscous evolution of fallback disks to show that it is possible for these disks to become neutral when they are still young (ages of a few 103 to 104 yr), compact in size (a few 109 to 1011 cm) and generally accreting at sub-Eddington rates (M~a few 1014-1018 g s-1). Based on recent results on the nature of viscosity in the disks of close binaries, we argue that this time may also correspond to the end of the disk activity period. Indeed, in the absence of a significant source of viscosity in the neutral phase, the entire disk will likely turn to dust and become passive. We discuss various applications of the evolutionary model, including anomalous X-ray pulsars and young radio pulsars. Our analysis indicates that metal-rich fallback disks around newly born neutron stars and black holes become neutral generally inside the tidal truncation radius (Roche limit) for planets at ~1011 cm. Consequently, the efficiency of the planetary formation process in this context will mostly depend on the ability of the resulting disk of rocks to spread via collisions beyond the Roche limit. It appears easier for the merger product of a doubly degenerate binary, whether it is a massive white dwarf or a neutron star, to harbor planets because its remnant disk has a rather large initial angular momentum, which allows it to spread beyond the Roche limit before becoming neutral. The early super-Eddington phase of accretion is a source of uncertainty for the disk evolution models presented here.

The Evolution of a Planet-Forming Disk Artist Concept Animation

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-12-09

This frame from an animation shows the evolution of a planet-forming disk around a star. Initially, the young disk is bright and thick with dust, providing raw materials for building planets. In the first 10 million years or so, gaps appear within the disk as newborn planets coalesce out of the dust, clearing out a path. In time, this planetary "debris disk" thins out as gravitational interactions with numerous planets slowly sweep away the dust. Steady pressure from the starlight and solar winds also blows out the dust. After a few billion years, only a thin ring remains in the outermost reaches of the system, a faint echo of the once-brilliant disk. Our own solar system has a similar debris disk -- a ring of comets called the Kuiper Belt. Leftover dust in the inner portion of the solar system is known as "zodiacal dust." Bright, young disks can be imaged directly by visible-light telescopes, such as NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Older, fainter debris disks can be detected only by infrared telescopes like NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which sense the disks' dim heat. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07099

The Disk Wind Model of the Broad Line Regions in Active Galactic Nuclei and Cataclysmic Variables

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begelman, Mitchell

2002-01-01

This is the final progress report for our Astrophysics Theory Program (NRA 97-OSS12) grant NAG5-7723. We have made considerable progress on incorporating photoionization calculations with a 2.5D hydrodynamical code to model disk winds in AGNs. Following up on our simultaneous broad band monitoring campaign of the type I Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548, we have investigated the constraints imposed on models of accretion in Seyfert galaxies by their optical, UV, and X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Using results from thermal Comptonization models that relate the physical properties of the hot inner accretion flow to the thermal reprocessing that occurs in the surrounding colder thin disk, we find that we can constrain the central black hole mass, accretion rate and size scale of the hot central flow. We have applied our model to observations of Seyfert galaxies NGC 3516, NGC 7469 and NGC 5548. Our mass and accretion rate estimates for these objects roughly agree with those found using other methods.

How robust are our views of Milky Way stellar populations before Gaia?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haywood, M.

2014-07-01

One year before the first release of the first data from Gaia, how robust are our views of the Milky Way stellar populations? Recent results have shown that limits, differences and/or continuities between populations are not where we thought they were just a few years ago. The outer disk (> 10kpc) has properties essentially different from the inner (thin+thick) disk, while the bulge is best explained in terms of disk populations, with a negligible or inexistent classical bulge, suggesting that the Milky Way is a pure disk galaxy. Much less contingent than previously envisaged, the thick disk is probably the main phase of stellar mass creation in the MW, and the parent population of the thin disk. These results lead to fundamental changes in our views on the stellar mass growth of the Galaxy, secular mass redistribution in the disk, and imply a change of paradigm of the chemical evolution. I review these different advances, and discuss some of the key questions.

Line Emission from an Accretion Disk Around a Rotating Black Hole: Toward a Measurement of Frame Dragging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bromley, Benjamin C.; Chen, Kaiyou; Miller, Warner A.

1997-01-01

Line emission from an accretion disk and a corotating hot spot about a rotating black hole are considered for possible signatures of the frame-dragging effect. We explicitly compare integrated line profiles from a geometrically thin disk about a Schwarzschild and an extreme Kerr black hole, and show that the line profile differences are small if the inner radius of the disk is near or above the Schwarzschild stable-orbit limit of radius 6GM/sq c. However, if the inner disk radius extends below this limit, as is Possible in the extreme Kerr spacetime, then differences can become significant, especially if the disk emissivity is stronger near the inner regions. We demonstrate that the first three moments of a line profile define a three-dimensional space in which the presence of material at small radii becomes quantitatively evident in broad classes of disk models. In the context of the simple, thin disk paradigm, this moment-mapping scheme suggests formally that the iron line detected by the Advanced Satellite,for Cosmology and Astrophysics mission from MCG --6-30-15 (Tanaka et al.) is approximately 3 times more likely to originate from a disk about a rotating black hole than from a Schwarzschild system. A statistically significant detection of black hole rotation in this way may be achieved after only modest improvements in the quality of data. We also consider light curves and frequency shifts in line emission as a function of time for corotating hot spots in extreme Kerr and Schwarzschild geometries. The frequency-shift profile is a valuable measure of orbital parameters and might possibly be used to detect frame dragging even at radii approaching 6GM/sq c if the inclination angle of the orbital plane is large. The light curve from a hot spot shows differences as well, although these too are pronounced only at large inclination angles.

Titius-Bode laws in the solar system. 2: Build your own law from disk models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrulle, B.; Graner, F.

1994-02-01

Simply respecting both scale and rotational invariance, it is easy to construct an endless collection of theoretical models predicting a Titius-Bode law, irrespective to their physical content. Due to the numerous ways to get the law and its intrinsic arbitrariness, it is not a useful constraint on theories of solar system formation. To illustrate the simple elegance of scale-invariant methods, we explicitly cook up one of the simplest examples, an infinitely thin cold gaseous disk rotating around a central object. In that academic case, the Titius-Bode law holds during the linear stage of the gravitational instability. The time scale of the instability is of the order of a self-gravitating time scale, (G rhod)-1/2, where rhod is the disk density. This model links the separation between different density maxima with the ratio MD/MC of the masses of the disk and the central object; for instance, MD/MC of the order of 0.18 roughly leads to the observed separation between the planets. We discuss the boundary conditions and the limit of the Wentzel-Kramer-Brillouin (WKB) approximation.

An Upper Limit on the Mass of the Circumplanetary Disk for DH Tau b

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolff, Schuyler G.; Ménard, François; Caceres, Claudio; Lefèvre, Charlene; Bonnefoy, Mickael; Cánovas, Héctor; Maret, Sébastien; Pinte, Christophe; Schreiber, Matthias R.; van der Plas, Gerrit

2017-07-01

DH Tau is a young (˜1 Myr) classical T Tauri star. It is one of the few young PMS stars known to be associated with a planetary mass companion, DH Tau b, orbiting at large separation and detected by direct imaging. DH Tau b is thought to be accreting based on copious {{H}}α emission and exhibits variable Paschen Beta emission. NOEMA observations at 230 GHz allow us to place constraints on the disk dust mass for both DH Tau b and the primary in a regime where the disks will appear optically thin. We estimate a disk dust mass for the primary, DH Tau A of 17.2+/- 1.7 {M}\\oplus , which gives a disk to star mass ratio of 0.014 (assuming the usual gas to dust mass ratio of 100 in the disk). We find a conservative disk dust mass upper limit of 0.42 M ⊕ for DH Tau b, assuming that the disk temperature is dominated by irradiation from DH Tau b itself. Given the environment of the circumplanetary disk, variable illumination from the primary or the equilibrium temperature of the surrounding cloud would lead to even lower disk mass estimates. A MCFOST radiative transfer model, including heating of the circumplanetary disk by DH Tau b and DH Tau A, suggests that a mass-averaged disk temperature of 22 K is more realistic, resulting in a dust disk mass upper limit of 0.09 M ⊕ for DH Tau b. We place DH Tau b in context with similar objects and discuss the consequences for planet formation models. This work is based on observations carried out under project D15AC with the IRAM NOEMA Interferometer. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany), and IGN (Spain).

Modifying the Standard Disk Model for the Ultraviolet Spectral Analysis of Disk-dominated Cataclysmic Variables. I. The Novalikes MV Lyrae, BZ Camelopardalis, and V592 Cassiopeiae.

PubMed

Godon, Patrick; Sion, Edward M; Balman, Şölen; Blair, William P

2017-09-01

The standard disk is often inadequate to model disk-dominated cataclysmic variables (CVs) and generates a spectrum that is bluer than the observed UV spectra. X-ray observations of these systems reveal an optically thin boundary layer (BL) expected to appear as an inner hole in the disk. Consequently, we truncate the inner disk. However, instead of removing the inner disk, we impose the no-shear boundary condition at the truncation radius, thereby lowering the disk temperature and generating a spectrum that better fits the UV data. With our modified disk, we analyze the archival UV spectra of three novalikes that cannot be fitted with standard disks. For the VY Scl systems MV Lyr and BZ Cam, we fit a hot inflated white dwarf (WD) with a cold modified disk ( [Formula: see text] ~ a few 10 -9 M ⊙ yr -1 ). For V592 Cas, the slightly modified disk ( [Formula: see text] ~ 6 × 10 -9 M ⊙ yr -1 ) completely dominates the UV. These results are consistent with Swift X-ray observations of these systems, revealing BLs merged with ADAF-like flows and/or hot coronae, where the advection of energy is likely launching an outflow and heating the WD, thereby explaining the high WD temperature in VY Scl systems. This is further supported by the fact that the X-ray hardness ratio increases with the shallowness of the UV slope in a small CV sample we examine. Furthermore, for 105 disk-dominated systems, the International Ultraviolet Explorer spectra UV slope decreases in the same order as the ratio of the X-ray flux to optical/UV flux: from SU UMa's, to U Gem's, Z Cam's, UX UMa's, and VY Scl's.

The Dynamics of Truncated Black Hole Accretion Disks. I. Viscous Hydrodynamic Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogg, J. Drew; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2017-07-01

Truncated accretion disks are commonly invoked to explain the spectro-temporal variability in accreting black holes in both small systems, I.e., state transitions in galactic black hole binaries (GBHBs), and large systems, I.e., low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs). In the canonical truncated disk model of moderately low accretion rate systems, gas in the inner region of the accretion disk occupies a hot, radiatively inefficient phase, which leads to a geometrically thick disk, while the gas in the outer region occupies a cooler, radiatively efficient phase that resides in the standard geometrically thin disk. Observationally, there is strong empirical evidence to support this phenomenological model, but a detailed understanding of the dynamics of truncated disks is lacking. We present a well-resolved viscous, hydrodynamic simulation that uses an ad hoc cooling prescription to drive a thermal instability and, hence, produce the first sustained truncated accretion disk. With this simulation, we perform a study of the dynamics, angular momentum transport, and energetics of a truncated disk. We find that the time variability introduced by the quasi-periodic transition of gas from efficient cooling to inefficient cooling impacts the evolution of the simulated disk. A consequence of the thermal instability is that an outflow is launched from the hot/cold gas interface, which drives large, sub-Keplerian convective cells into the disk atmosphere. The convective cells introduce a viscous θ - ϕ stress that is less than the generic r - ϕ viscous stress component, but greatly influences the evolution of the disk. In the truncated disk, we find that the bulk of the accreted gas is in the hot phase.

The Dynamics of Truncated Black Hole Accretion Disks. I. Viscous Hydrodynamic Case

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hogg, J. Drew; Reynolds, Christopher S.

Truncated accretion disks are commonly invoked to explain the spectro-temporal variability in accreting black holes in both small systems, i.e., state transitions in galactic black hole binaries (GBHBs), and large systems, i.e., low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs). In the canonical truncated disk model of moderately low accretion rate systems, gas in the inner region of the accretion disk occupies a hot, radiatively inefficient phase, which leads to a geometrically thick disk, while the gas in the outer region occupies a cooler, radiatively efficient phase that resides in the standard geometrically thin disk. Observationally, there is strong empirical evidence to supportmore » this phenomenological model, but a detailed understanding of the dynamics of truncated disks is lacking. We present a well-resolved viscous, hydrodynamic simulation that uses an ad hoc cooling prescription to drive a thermal instability and, hence, produce the first sustained truncated accretion disk. With this simulation, we perform a study of the dynamics, angular momentum transport, and energetics of a truncated disk. We find that the time variability introduced by the quasi-periodic transition of gas from efficient cooling to inefficient cooling impacts the evolution of the simulated disk. A consequence of the thermal instability is that an outflow is launched from the hot/cold gas interface, which drives large, sub-Keplerian convective cells into the disk atmosphere. The convective cells introduce a viscous θ − ϕ stress that is less than the generic r − ϕ viscous stress component, but greatly influences the evolution of the disk. In the truncated disk, we find that the bulk of the accreted gas is in the hot phase.« less

Herschel evidence for disk flattening or gas depletion in transitional disks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keane, J. T.; Pascucci, I.; Espaillat, C.

Transitional disks are protoplanetary disks characterized by reduced near- and mid-infrared emission, with respect to full disks. This characteristic spectral energy distribution indicates the presence of an optically thin inner cavity within the dust disk believed to mark the disappearance of the primordial massive disk. We present new Herschel Space Observatory PACS spectra of [O I] 63.18 μm for 21 transitional disks. Our survey complements the larger Herschel GASPS program ({sup G}as in Protoplanetary Systems{sup )} by quadrupling the number of transitional disks observed with PACS in this wavelength. [O I] 63.18 μm traces material in the outer regions ofmore » the disk, beyond the inner cavity of most transitional disks. We find that transitional disks have [O I] 63.18 μm line luminosities ∼2 times fainter than their full disk counterparts. We self-consistently determine various stellar properties (e.g., bolometric luminosity, FUV excess, etc.) and disk properties (e.g., disk dust mass, etc.) that could influence the [O I] 63.18 μm line luminosity, and we find no correlations that can explain the lower [O I] 63.18 μm line luminosities in transitional disks. Using a grid of thermo-chemical protoplanetary disk models, we conclude that either transitional disks are less flared than full disks or they possess lower gas-to-dust ratios due to a depletion of gas mass. This result suggests that transitional disks are more evolved than their full disk counterparts, possibly even at large radii.« less

Photoionization Models for the Inner Gaseous Disks of Herbig Be Stars: Evidence against Magnetospheric Accretion?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Patel, P.; Sigut, T. A. A.; Landstreet, J. D., E-mail: ppatel54@uwo.ca

2017-02-20

We investigate the physical properties of the inner gaseous disks of three hot Herbig B2e stars, HD 76534, HD 114981, and HD 216629, by modeling CFHT-ESPaDOns spectra using non-LTE radiative transfer codes. We assume that the emission lines are produced in a circumstellar disk heated solely by photospheric radiation from the central star in order to test whether the optical and near-infrared emission lines can be reproduced without invoking magnetospheric accretion. The inner gaseous disk density was assumed to follow a simple power-law in the equatorial plane, and we searched for models that could reproduce observed lines of H imore » (H α and H β ), He i, Ca ii, and Fe ii. For the three stars, good matches were found for all emission line profiles individually; however, no density model based on a single power-law was able to reproduce all of the observed emission lines. Among the single power-law models, the one with the gas density varying as ∼10{sup −10}( R {sub *}/ R ){sup 3} g cm{sup −3} in the equatorial plane of a 25 R {sub *} (0.78 au) disk did the best overall job of representing the optical emission lines of the three stars. This model implies a mass for the H α -emitting portion of the inner gaseous disk of ∼10{sup −9} M {sub *}. We conclude that the optical emission line spectra of these HBe stars can be qualitatively reproduced by a ≈1 au, geometrically thin, circumstellar disk of negligible mass compared to the central star in Keplerian rotation and radiative equilibrium.« less

Relativistic, Viscous, Radiation Hydrodynamic Simulations of Geometrically Thin Disks. I. Thermal and Other Instabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fragile, P. Chris; Etheridge, Sarina M.; Anninos, Peter; Mishra, Bhupendra; Kluźniak, Włodek

2018-04-01

We present results from two-dimensional, general relativistic, viscous, radiation hydrodynamic numerical simulations of Shakura–Sunyaev thin disks accreting onto stellar-mass Schwarzschild black holes. We consider cases on both the gas- and radiation-pressure-dominated branches of the thermal equilibrium curve, with mass accretion rates spanning the range from \\dot{M}=0.01{L}Edd}/{c}2 to 10L Edd/c 2. The simulations directly test the stability of this standard disk model on the different branches. We find clear evidence of thermal instability for all radiation-pressure-dominated disks, resulting universally in the vertical collapse of the disks, which in some cases then settle onto the stable, gas-pressure-dominated branch. Although these results are consistent with decades-old theoretical predictions, they appear to be in conflict with available observational data from black hole X-ray binaries. We also find evidence for a radiation-pressure-driven instability that breaks the unstable disks up into alternating rings of high and low surface density on a timescale comparable to the thermal collapse. Since radiation is included self-consistently in the simulations, we are able to calculate light curves and power density spectra (PDS). For the most part, we measure radiative efficiencies (ratio of luminosity to mass accretion rate) close to 6%, as expected for a nonrotating black hole. The PDS appear as broken power laws, with a break typically around 100 Hz. There is no evidence of significant excess power at any frequencies, i.e., no quasi-periodic oscillations are observed.

Thick Disks in the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elmegreen, Bruce G.; Elmegreen, Debra Meloy; Tompkins, Brittany

Thick disk evolution is studied using edge-on galaxies in two Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Field Parallels. The galaxies were separated into 72 clumpy types and 35 spiral types with bulges. Perpendicular light profiles in F435W, F606W, and F814W ( B , V , and I ) passbands were measured at 1 pixel intervals along the major axes and fitted to sech{sup 2} functions convolved with the instrument line spread function (LSF). The LSF was determined from the average point spread function of ∼20 stars in each passband and field, convolved with a line of uniform brightness to simulate disk blurring.more » A spread function for a clumpy disk was also used for comparison. The resulting scale heights were found to be proportional to galactic mass, with the average height for a 10{sup 10±0.5} M {sub ⊙} galaxy at z = 2 ± 0.5 equal to 0.63 ± 0.24 kpc. This value is probably the result of a blend between thin and thick disk components that cannot be resolved. Evidence for such two-component structure is present in an inverse correlation between height and midplane surface brightness. Models suggest that the thick disk is observed best between the clumps, and there the average scale height is 1.06 ± 0.43 kpc for the same mass and redshift. A 0.63 ± 0.68 mag V − I color differential with height is also evidence for a mixture of thin and thick components.« less

Magnetic Coupling in the Disks around Young Gas Giant Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, N. J.; Lee, Man Hoi; Sano, T.

2014-03-01

We examine the conditions under which the disks of gas and dust orbiting young gas giant planets are sufficiently conducting to experience turbulence driven by the magneto-rotational instability. By modeling the ionization and conductivity in the disk around proto-Jupiter, we find that turbulence is possible if the X-rays emitted near the Sun reach the planet's vicinity and either (1) the gas surface densities are in the range of the minimum-mass models constructed by augmenting Jupiter's satellites to solar composition, while dust is depleted from the disk atmosphere, or (2) the surface densities are much less, and in the range of gas-starved models fed with material from the solar nebula, but not so low that ambipolar diffusion decouples the neutral gas from the plasma. The results lend support to both minimum-mass and gas-starved models of the protojovian disk. (1) The dusty minimum-mass models have internal conductivities low enough to prevent angular momentum transfer by magnetic forces, as required for the material to remain in place while the satellites form. (2) The gas-starved models have magnetically active surface layers and a decoupled interior "dead zone." Similar active layers in the solar nebula yield accretion stresses in the range assumed in constructing the circumjovian gas-starved models. Our results also point to aspects of both classes of models that can be further developed. Non-turbulent minimum-mass models will lose dust from their atmospheres by settling, enabling gas to accrete through a thin surface layer. For the gas-starved models it is crucial to learn whether enough stellar X-ray and ultraviolet photons reach the circumjovian disk. Additionally, the stress-to-pressure ratio ought to increase with distance from the planet, likely leading to episodic accretion outbursts.

Disk Masses around Solar-mass Stars are Underestimated by CO Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Mo; Evans, Neal J., II; Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E.; Willacy, Karen; Turner, Neal J.

2017-05-01

Gas in protostellar disks provides the raw material for giant planet formation and controls the dynamics of the planetesimal-building dust grains. Accurate gas mass measurements help map the observed properties of planet-forming disks onto the formation environments of known exoplanets. Rare isotopologues of carbon monoxide (CO) have been used as gas mass tracers for disks in the Lupus star-forming region, with an assumed interstellar CO/H2 abundance ratio. Unfortunately, observations of T-Tauri disks show that CO abundance is not interstellar, a finding reproduced by models that show CO abundance decreasing both with distance from the star and as a function of time. Here, we present radiative transfer simulations that assess the accuracy of CO-based disk mass measurements. We find that the combination of CO chemical depletion in the outer disk and optically thick emission from the inner disk leads observers to underestimate gas mass by more than an order of magnitude if they use the standard assumptions of interstellar CO/H2 ratio and optically thin emission. Furthermore, CO abundance changes on million-year timescales, introducing an age/mass degeneracy into observations. To reach a factor of a few accuracy for CO-based disk mass measurements, we suggest that observers and modelers adopt the following strategies: (1) select low-J transitions; (2) observe multiple CO isotopologues and use either intensity ratios or normalized line profiles to diagnose CO chemical depletion; and (3) use spatially resolved observations to measure the CO-abundance distribution.

Accretion Disk and Dust Emission in Low-Luminosity AGN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biddle, Lauren I.; Mason, Rachel; Alonso-Herrero, Almudena; Colina, Luis; Diaz, Ruben; Flohic, Helene; Gonzalez-Martin, Omaira; Ho, Luis C.; Lira, Paulina; Martins, Lucimara; McDermid, Richard; Perlman, Eric S.; Ramos Almeida, Christina; Riffel, Rogerio; Ardila, Alberto; Ruschel Dutra, Daniel; Schiavon, Ricardo; Thanjavur, Karun; Winge, Claudia

2015-01-01

Observations obtained in the near-infrared (near-IR; 0.8 - 2.5 μm) can assist our understanding of the physical and evolutionary processes of galaxies. Using a set of near-IR spectra of nearby galaxies obtained with the cross-dispersed mode of GNIRS on the Gemini North telescope, we investigate how the accretion disk and hot dust emission depend on the luminosity of the active nucleus. We recover faint AGN emission from the starlight-dominated nuclear regions of the galaxies, and measure properties such as the spectral shape and luminosity of the accretion disk and dust. The aim of this work is to establish whether the standard thin accretion disk may be truncated in low-accretion-rate AGN, as well as evaluate whether the torus of the AGN unified model still exists at low luminosities.

Empirical Temperature Measurement in Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weaver, Erik; Isella, Andrea; Boehler, Yann

2018-02-01

The accurate measurement of temperature in protoplanetary disks is critical to understanding many key features of disk evolution and planet formation, from disk chemistry and dynamics, to planetesimal formation. This paper explores the techniques available to determine temperatures from observations of single, optically thick molecular emission lines. Specific attention is given to issues such as the inclusion of optically thin emission, problems resulting from continuum subtraction, and complications of real observations. Effort is also made to detail the exact nature and morphology of the region emitting a given line. To properly study and quantify these effects, this paper considers a range of disk models, from simple pedagogical models to very detailed models including full radiative transfer. Finally, we show how the use of the wrong methods can lead to potentially severe misinterpretations of data, leading to incorrect measurements of disk temperature profiles. We show that the best way to estimate the temperature of emitting gas is to analyze the line peak emission map without subtracting continuum emission. Continuum subtraction, which is commonly applied to observations of line emission, systematically leads to underestimation of the gas temperature. We further show that once observational effects such as beam dilution and noise are accounted for, the line brightness temperature derived from the peak emission is reliably within 10%–15% of the physical temperature of the emitting region, assuming optically thick emission. The methodology described in this paper will be applied in future works to constrain the temperature, and related physical quantities, in protoplanetary disks observed with ALMA.

Kinematics of the Diffuse Ionized Gas Disk of Andromeda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thelen, Alexander; Howley, K.; Guhathakurta, P.; Dorman, C.; SPLASH Collaboration

2012-01-01

This research focuses on the flattened rotating diffuse ionized gas (DIG) disk of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). For this we use spectra from 25 multislit masks obtained by the SPLASH collaboration using the DEIMOS spectrograph on the Keck-II 10-meter telescope. Each mask contains 200 slits covering the region around M32 (S of the center of M31), the major axis of M31, and the SE minor axis. DIG emission was serendipitously detected in the background sky of these slits. By creating a normalized "sky spectrum” to remove various other sources of emission (such as night sky lines) in the background of these slits, we have examined the rotation of the DIG disk using individual line-of-sight velocity measurements of Hα, [NII] and [SII] emission. his emission is probably the result of newly formed stars ionizing the gas in the disk. The measured IG rotation will be compared to the rotation of M31's stellar disk and HI gas disk, as well as models of an infinitely thin rotating disk, to better understand the relationship between the components of the galactic disk and its differential rotation. We wish to acknowledge the NSF for funding on this project.

Highly efficient 400  W near-fundamental-mode green thin-disk laser.

PubMed

Piehler, Stefan; Dietrich, Tom; Rumpel, Martin; Graf, Thomas; Ahmed, Marwan Abdou

2016-01-01

We report on the efficient generation of continuous-wave, high-brightness green laser radiation. Green lasers are particularly interesting for reliable and reproducible deep-penetration welding of copper or for pumping Ti:Sa oscillators. By intracavity second-harmonic generation in a thin-disk laser resonator designed for fundamental-mode operation, an output power of up to 403 W is demonstrated at a wavelength of 515 nm with almost diffraction-limited beam quality. The unprecedented optical efficiency of 40.7% of green output power with respect to the pump power of the thin-disk laser is enabled by the intracavity use of a highly efficient grating waveguide mirror, which combines the functions of wavelength stabilization and spectral narrowing, as well as polarization selection in a single element.

Formation of Large Regular Satellites of Giant Planets in an Extended Gaseous Nebula: Subnebula Model and Accretion of Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mosqueira, I.; Estrada, P. R.

2000-01-01

We model the subnebulae of Jupiter and Saturn wherein satellite accretion took place. We expect a giant planet subnebula to be composed of an optically thick (given gaseous opacity) inner region inside of the planet's centrifugal radius (located at r(sub c, sup J) = l5R(sub J) for Jupiter and r(sub c, sup S) = 22R(sub S) for Saturn), and an optically thin, extended outer disk out to a fraction of the planet's Roche lobe, which we choose to be R(sub roche)/5 (located at approximately 150R(sub J) near the inner irregular satellites for Jupiter, and approximately 200R(sub S) near Phoebe for Saturn). This places Titan and Ganymede in the inner disk, Callisto and Iapetus in the outer disk, and Hyperion in the transition region. The inner disk is the leftover of the gas accreted by the protoplanet. The outer disk results from the solar torque on nebula gas flowing into the protoplanet during the time of giant planet gap opening. For the sake of specificity, we use a cosmic mixture 'minimum mass' model to constrain the gas densities of the inner disks of Jupiter and Saturn (and also Uranus). For the total mass of the outer disk we use the simple scaling M(sub disk) = M(sub P)tau(sub gap)/tau(sub acc), where M(sub P) is the mass of the giant planet, tau(sub gap) is the gap opening timescale, and tau(sub acc) is the giant planet accretion time. This gives a total outer disk mass of approximately 100M(sub Callisto) for Jupiter and possibly approximately 200M(sub Iapetus) for Saturn (which contain enough condensables to form Callisto and Iapetus respectively). Our model has Ganymede at a subnebula temperature of approximately 250 K and Titan at approximately 100 K. The outer disks of Jupiter and Saturn have constant temperatures of 130 K and 90 K respectively.

A critical analysis of shock models for chondrule formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stammler, Sebastian M.; Dullemond, Cornelis P.

2014-11-01

In recent years many models of chondrule formation have been proposed. One of those models is the processing of dust in shock waves in protoplanetary disks. In this model, the dust and the chondrule precursors are overrun by shock waves, which heat them up by frictional heating and thermal exchange with the gas. In this paper we reanalyze the nebular shock model of chondrule formation and focus on the downstream boundary condition. We show that for large-scale plane-parallel chondrule-melting shocks the postshock equilibrium temperature is too high to avoid volatile loss. Even if we include radiative cooling in lateral directions out of the disk plane into our model (thereby breaking strict plane-parallel geometry) we find that for a realistic vertical extent of the solar nebula disk the temperature decline is not fast enough. On the other hand, if we assume that the shock is entirely optically thin so that particles can radiate freely, the cooling rates are too high to produce the observed chondrules textures. Global nebular shocks are therefore problematic as the primary sources of chondrules.

Fluorine in the solar neighborhood: Chemical evolution models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spitoni, E.; Matteucci, F.; Jönsson, H.; Ryde, N.; Romano, D.

2018-04-01

Context. In light of new observational data related to fluorine abundances in solar neighborhood stars, we present chemical evolution models testing various fluorine nucleosynthesis prescriptions with the aim to best fit those new data. Aim. We consider chemical evolution models in the solar neighborhood testing various nucleosynthesis prescriptions for fluorine production with the aim of reproducing the observed abundance ratios [F/O] versus [O/H] and [F/Fe] versus [Fe/H]. We study in detail the effects of various stellar yields on fluorine production. Methods: We adopted two chemical evolution models: the classical two-infall model, which follows the chemical evolution of halo-thick disk and thin disk phases; and the one-infall model, which is designed only for thin disk evolution. We tested the effects on the predicted fluorine abundance ratios of various nucleosynthesis yield sources, that is, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars, Type II and Type Ia supernovae, and novae. Results: The fluorine production is dominated by AGB stars but the W-R stars are required to reproduce the trend of the observed data in the solar neighborhood with our chemical evolution models. In particular, the best model both for the two-infall and one-infall cases requires an increase by a factor of 2 of the W-R yields. We also show that the novae, even if their yields are still uncertain, could help to better reproduce the secondary behavior of F in the [F/O] versus [O/H] relation. Conclusions: The inclusion of the fluorine production by W-R stars seems to be essential to reproduce the new observed ratio [F/O] versus [O/H] in the solar neighborhood. Moreover, the inclusion of novae helps to reproduce the observed fluorine secondary behavior substantially.

Kinematic Dynamo In Turbulent Circumstellar Disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stepinski, T.

1993-01-01

Many circumstellar disks associated with objects ranging from protoplanetary nebulae, to accretion disks around compact stars allow for the generation of magnetic fields by an (alpha)omega dynamo. We have applied kinematic dynamo formalism to geometrically thin accretion disks. We calculate, in the framework of an adiabatic approximation, the normal mode solutions for dynamos operating in disks around compact stars. We then describe the criteria for a viable dynamo in protoplanetary nebulae, and discuss the particular features that make accretion disk dynamos different from planetary, stellar, and galactic dynamos.

Feasibility of using PZT actuators to study the dynamic behavior of a rotating disk due to rotor-stator interaction.

PubMed

Presas, Alexandre; Egusquiza, Eduard; Valero, Carme; Valentin, David; Seidel, Ulrich

2014-07-07

In this paper, PZT actuators are used to study the dynamic behavior of a rotating disk structure due to rotor-stator interaction excitation. The disk is studied with two different surrounding fluids-air and water. The study has been performed analytically and validated experimentally. For the theoretical analysis, the natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes of the rotating disk in air and water are obtained with the Kirchhoff-Love thin plate theory coupled with the interaction with the surrounding fluid. A model for the Rotor Stator Interaction that occurs in many rotating disk-like parts of turbomachinery such as compressors, hydraulic runners or alternators is presented. The dynamic behavior of the rotating disk due to this excitation is deduced. For the experimental analysis a test rig has been developed. It consists of a stainless steel disk (r = 198 mm and h = 8 mm) connected to a variable speed motor. Excitation and response are measured from the rotating system. For the rotating excitation four piezoelectric patches have been used. Calibrating the piezoelectric patches in amplitude and phase, different rotating excitation patterns are applied on the rotating disk in air and in water. Results show the feasibility of using PZT to control the response of the disk due to a rotor-stator interaction.

Local magnetohydrodynamic instabilities and the wave-driven dynamo in accretion disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vishniac, Ethan T.; Diamond, Patrick

1992-01-01

We consider the consequences of magnetic buoyancy and the magnetic shearing instability (MSI) on the strength and organization of the magnetic field in a thin accretion disk. We discuss a model in which the wave-driven dynamo growth rate is balanced by the dissipative effects of the MSI. As in earlier work, the net helicity is due to small advective motions driven by nonlinear interactions between internal waves. Assuming a simple model of the internal wave spectrum generated from the primary m = 1 internal waves, we find that the magnetic energy density saturates at about (H/r) exp 4/3 times the local pressure (where H is the disk thickness and r is its radius). On very small scales the shearing instability will produce an isotropic fluctuating field. For a stationary disk this is equivalent to a dimensionless 'viscosity' of about (H/r) exp 4/3. The vertical and radial diffusion coefficients will be comparable to each other. Magnetic buoyancy will be largely suppressed by the turbulence due to the MSI. We present a rough estimate of its effects and find that it removes magnetic flux from the disk at a rate comparable to that caused by turbulent diffusion.

The Dynamics of Truncated Black Hole Accretion Disks. II. Magnetohydrodynamic Case

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogg, J. Drew; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2018-02-01

We study a truncated accretion disk using a well-resolved, semi-global magnetohydrodynamic simulation that is evolved for many dynamical times (6096 inner disk orbits). The spectral properties of hard-state black hole binary systems and low-luminosity active galactic nuclei are regularly attributed to truncated accretion disks, but a detailed understanding of the flow dynamics is lacking. In these systems the truncation is expected to arise through thermal instability driven by sharp changes in the radiative efficiency. We emulate this behavior using a simple bistable cooling function with efficient and inefficient branches. The accretion flow takes on an arrangement where a “transition zone” exists in between hot gas in the innermost regions and a cold, Shakura & Sunyaev thin disk at larger radii. The thin disk is embedded in an atmosphere of hot gas that is fed by a gentle outflow originating from the transition zone. Despite the presence of hot gas in the inner disk, accretion is efficient. Our analysis focuses on the details of the angular momentum transport, energetics, and magnetic field properties. We find that the magnetic dynamo is suppressed in the hot, truncated inner region of the disk which lowers the effective α-parameter by 65%.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yu, Mo; Evans II, Neal J.; Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E.

Gas in protostellar disks provides the raw material for giant planet formation and controls the dynamics of the planetesimal-building dust grains. Accurate gas mass measurements help map the observed properties of planet-forming disks onto the formation environments of known exoplanets. Rare isotopologues of carbon monoxide (CO) have been used as gas mass tracers for disks in the Lupus star-forming region, with an assumed interstellar CO/H{sub 2} abundance ratio. Unfortunately, observations of T-Tauri disks show that CO abundance is not interstellar, a finding reproduced by models that show CO abundance decreasing both with distance from the star and as a functionmore » of time. Here, we present radiative transfer simulations that assess the accuracy of CO-based disk mass measurements. We find that the combination of CO chemical depletion in the outer disk and optically thick emission from the inner disk leads observers to underestimate gas mass by more than an order of magnitude if they use the standard assumptions of interstellar CO/H{sub 2} ratio and optically thin emission. Furthermore, CO abundance changes on million-year timescales, introducing an age/mass degeneracy into observations. To reach a factor of a few accuracy for CO-based disk mass measurements, we suggest that observers and modelers adopt the following strategies: (1) select low- J transitions; (2) observe multiple CO isotopologues and use either intensity ratios or normalized line profiles to diagnose CO chemical depletion; and (3) use spatially resolved observations to measure the CO-abundance distribution.« less

Launching of Jets and the Vertical Structure of Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogilvie, Gordon I.; Livio, Mario

2001-05-01

The launching of magnetohydrodynamic outflows from accretion disks is considered. We formulate a model for the local vertical structure of a thin disk threaded by a poloidal magnetic field of dipolar symmetry. The model consists of an optically thick disk matched to an isothermal atmosphere. The disk is supposed to be turbulent and possesses an effective viscosity and an effective magnetic diffusivity. In the atmosphere, if the magnetic field lines are inclined sufficiently to the vertical, a magnetocentrifugal outflow is driven and passes through a slow magnetosonic point close to the surface. We determine how the rate of mass loss varies with the strength and inclination of the magnetic field. In particular, we find that for disks in which the mean poloidal field is sufficiently strong to stabilize the disk against the magnetorotational instability, the mass-loss rate decreases extremely rapidly with increasing field strength and is maximal at an inclination angle of 40°-50°. For turbulent disks with weaker mean fields, the mass-loss rate increases monotonically with increasing strength and inclination of the field, but the solution branch terminates before achieving excessive mass-loss rates. Our results suggest that efficient jet launching occurs for a limited range of field strengths and a limited range of inclination angles in excess of 30°. In addition, we determine the direction and rate of radial migration of the poloidal magnetic flux and discuss whether configurations suitable for jet launching can be maintained against dissipation.

Moderate high power 1 to 20μs and kHz Ho:YAG thin disk laser pulses for laser lithotripsy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renz, Günther

2015-02-01

An acousto-optically or self-oscillation pulsed thin disk Ho:YAG laser system at 2.1 μm with an average power in the 10 W range will be presented for laser lithotripsy. In the case of cw operation the thin disk Ho:YAG is either pumped with InP diode stacks or with a thulium fiber laser which leads to a laser output power of 20 W at an optical-to-optical efficiency of 30%. For the gain switched mode of operation a modulated Tm-fiber laser is used to produce self-oscillation pulses. A favored pulse lengths for uric acid stone ablation is known to be at a few μs pulse duration which can be delivered by the thin disk laser technology. In the state of the art laser lithotripter, stone material is typically ablated with 250 to 750 μs pulses at 5 to 10 Hz and with pulse energies up to a few Joule. The ablation mechanism is performed in this case by vaporization into stone dust and fragmentation. With the thin disk laser technology, 1 to 20 μs-laser pulses with a repetition rate of a few kHz and with pulse energies in the mJ-range are available. The ablation mechanism is in this case due to a local heating of the stone material with a decomposition of the crystalline structure into calcium carbonate powder which can be handled by the human body. As a joint process to this thermal effect, imploding water vapor bubbles between the fiber end and the stone material produce sporadic shock waves which help clear out the stone dust and biological material.

THE DOMINANT EPOCH OF STAR FORMATION IN THE MILKY WAY FORMED THE THICK DISK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Snaith, Owain N.; Haywood, Misha; Di Matteo, Paola

2014-02-01

We report the first robust measurement of the Milky Way star formation history using the imprint left on chemical abundances of long-lived stars. The formation of the Galactic thick disk occurs during an intense star formation phase between 9.0 (z ∼ 1.5) and 12.5 Gyr (z ∼ 4.5) ago and is followed by a dip (at z ∼ 1.1) lasting about 1 Gyr. Our results imply that the thick disk is as massive as the Milky Way's thin disk, suggesting a fundamental role of this component in the genesis of our Galaxy, something that had been largely unrecognized. This new picture impliesmore » that huge quantities of gas necessary to feed the building of the thick disk must have been present at these epochs, in contradiction with the long-term infall assumed by chemical evolution models in the last two decades. These results allow us to fit the Milky Way within the emerging features of the evolution of disk galaxies in the early universe.« less

The Chemical Composition of the Galactic Bulge and Implications for its Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McWilliam, Andrew

2016-08-01

At a bulge latitude of b = -4°, the average [Fe/H] and [Mg/H] values are +0.06 and +0.17 dex, roughly 0.2 and 0.7 dex higher than the local thin and thick disk values, respectively, suggesting a large bulge effective yield, perhaps due to efficient retention of supernova ejecta. The bulge vertical [Fe/H] gradient, at ∼0.5 dex/kpc, appears to be due to a changing mixture of sub-populations (near +0.3 dex and -0.3 dex and one possibly near -0.7 dex) with latitude. At solar [Fe/H], the bulge [Al/Fe] and [α/Fe] ratios are ∼ +0.15 dex. Below [Fe/H] ∼ -0.5 dex, the bulge and local thick disk compositions are very similar; but the measured [Mg/Fe], [/Fe], [La/Eu] and dramatic [Cu/Fe] ratios suggest higher SFR in the bulge. However, these composition differences with the thick disk could be due to measurement errors and non-LTE effects. Unusual zig-zag trends of [Cu/Fe] and [Na/Fe] suggest metallicity-dependent nucleosynthesis by core-collapse supernovae in the Type Ia supernova time-delay scenario. The bulge sub-population compositions resemble the local thin and thick disks, but at higher [Fe/H], suggesting a radial [Fe/H] gradient of -0.04 to -0.05 dex/kpc for both the thin and thick disks. If the bulge formed through accretion of inner thin and thick disk stars, it appears that these stars retained vertical scale heights characteristic of their kinematic origin, resulting in the vertical [Fe/H] gradient and [α/Fe] trends seen today.

Superconductor disks and cylinders in an axial magnetic field: II. Nonlinear and linear ac susceptibilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandt, Ernst Helmut

1998-09-01

The ac susceptibility χ=χ'-iχ'' of superconductor cylinders of finite length in a magnetic field applied along the cylinder axis is calculated using the method developed in the preceding paper, part I. This method does not require any approximation of the infinitely extended magnetic field outside the cylinder or disk but directly computes the current density J inside the superconductor. The material is characterized by a general current-voltage law E(J), e.g., E(J)=Ec[J/Jc(B)]n(B), where E is the electric field, B=μ0H the magnetic induction, Ec a prefactor, Jc the critical current density, and n>=1 the creep exponent. For n>1, the nonlinear ac susceptibility is calculated from the hysteresis loops of the magnetic moment of the cylinder, which is obtained by time integration of the equation for J(r,t). For n>>1 these results go over into the Bean critical state model. For n=1, and for any linear complex resistivity ρac(ω)=E/J, the linear ac susceptibility is calculated from an eigenvalue problem which depends on the aspect ratio b/a of the cylinder or disk. In the limits b/a<<1 and b/a>>1, the known results for thin disks in a perpendicular field and long cylinders in a parallel field are reproduced. For thin disks in a perpendicular field, at large frequencies χ(ω) crosses over to the behavior of slabs in parallel geometry since the magnetic field lines are expelled and have to flow around the disk. The results presented may be used to obtain the nonlinear or linear resistivity from contact-free magnetic measurements on superconductors of realistic shape.

The Radial Distribution of Mono-metallicity Populations in the Galactic Disk as Evidence for Two-phase Disk Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domínguez-Tenreiro, R.; Obreja, A.; Brook, C. B.; Martínez-Serrano, F. J.; Serna, A.

2017-09-01

Recent determinations of the radial distributions of mono-metallicity populations (MMPs, I.e., stars in narrow bins in [Fe/H] within wider [α/Fe] ranges) by the SDSS-III/APOGEE DR12 survey cast doubts on the classical thin- and thick-disk dichotomy. The analysis of these observations led to the non-[α /Fe] enhanced populations splitting into MMPs with different surface densities according to their [Fe/H]. By contrast, [α /Fe] enhanced (I.e., old) populations show a homogeneous behavior. We analyze these results in the wider context of disk formation within non-isolated halos embedded in the Cosmic Web, resulting in a two-phase mass assembly. By performing hydrodynamical simulations in the context of the ΛCDM model, we have found that the two phases of halo mass assembly (an early fast phase, followed by a slow phase with low mass-assembly rates) are very relevant to determine the radial structure of MMP distributions, while radial mixing only plays a secondary role, depending on the coeval dynamical and/or destabilizing events. Indeed, while the frequent dynamical violent events occuring at high redshift remove metallicity gradients and imply efficient stellar mixing, the relatively quiescent dynamics after the transition keeps [Fe/H] gaseous gradients and prevents newly formed stars from suffering strong radial mixing. By linking the two-component disk concept with the two-phase halo mass-assembly scenario, our results set halo virialization (the event marking the transition from the fast to the slow phases) as the separating event that marks periods that are characterized by different physical conditions under which thick- and thin-disk stars were born.

Planetesimal Formation through the Streaming Instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chao-Chin; Johansen, Anders; Schäfer, Urs

2015-12-01

The streaming instability is a promising mechanism to circumvent the barriers in direct dust growth and lead to the formation of planetesimals, as demonstrated by many previous studies. In order to resolve the thin layer of solids, however, most of these studies were focused on a local region of a protoplanetary disk with a limited simulation domain. It remains uncertain how the streaming instability is affected by the disk gas on large scales, and models that have sufficient dynamical range to capture both the thin particle layer and the large-scale disk dynamics are required.We hereby systematically push the limits of the computational domain up to more than the gas scale height, and study the particle-gas interaction on large scales in the saturated state of the streaming instability and the initial mass function of the resulting planetesimals. To overcome the numerical challenges posed by this kind of models, we have developed a new technique to simultaneously relieve the stringent time step constraints due to small-sized particles and strong local solid concentrations. Using these models, we demonstrate that the streaming instability can drive multiple radial, filamentary concentrations of solids, implying that planetesimals are born in well separated belt-like structures. We also find that the initial mass function of planetesimals via the streaming instability has a characteristic exponential form, which is robust against computational domain as well as resolution. These findings will help us further constrain the cosmochemical history of the Solar system as well as the planet formation theory in general.

Diagnostics of dust content in spiral galaxies: Numerical simulations of radiative transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byun, Y. I.; Freeman, K. C.; Kylafis, N. D.

1994-01-01

In order to find the best observable diagnostics for the amount of internal extinction within spiral galaxies, we have constructed realistic models for disk galaxies with immersed dust layers. The radiative transfer including both scattering and absorption has been computed for a range of model galaxies in various orientations. Standard galaxy surface photometry techniques were then applied to the numerical data to illustrate how different observables such as total magnitude, color and luminosity distribution behave under given conditions of dust distribution. This work reveals a set of superior diagnostics for the dust in the disk. These include not only the integrated parameters, but also the apparent disk structural parameters, the amplitude of the asymmetry between the near and far sides of the galaxy as divided by the apparent major axis and their dependence on the orientation of the galaxy with respect to the observer. Combining the above diagnostics with our impressions of real galaxies, we arrive at the qualitative conclusion that galaxy disks are generally optically thin. Quantitative conclusions will appear in subsequent work.

Childhood to adolescence: dust and gas clearing in protoplanetary disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Joanna Margaret

Disks are ubiquitous around young stars. Over time, disks dissipate, revealing planets that formed hidden by their natal dust. Since direct detection of young planets at small orbital radii is currently impossible, other tracers of planet formation must be found. One sign of disk evolution, potentially linked to planet formation, is the opening of a gap or inner hole in the disk. In this thesis, I have identified and characterized several cold disks with large inner gaps but retaining massive primordial outer disks. While cold disks are not common, with ~5% of disks showing signs of inner gaps, they provide proof that at least some disks evolve from the inside-out. These large gaps are equivalent to dust clearing from inside the Earth's orbit to Neptune's orbit or even the inner Kuiper belt. Unlike more evolved systems like our own, the central star is often still accreting and a large outer disk remains. I identified four cold disks in Spitzer 5-40 μm spectra and modeled these disks using a 2-D radiative transfer code to determine the gap properties. Outer gap radii of 20-45 AU were derived. However, spectrophotometric identification is indirect and model-dependent. To validate this interpretation, I observed three disks with a submillimeter interferometer and obtained the first direct images of the central holes. The images agree well with the gap sizes derived from the spectrophotometry. One system, LkH&alpha 330, has a very steep outer gap edge which seems more consistent with gravitational perturbation rather than gradual processes, such as grain growth and settling. Roughly 70% of cold disks show CO v=1&rarr 0 gas emission from the inner 1 AU and therefore are unlikely to have evolved due to photoevaporation. The derived rotation temperatures are significantly lower for the cold disks than disks without gaps. Unresolved (sub)millimeter photometry shows that cold disks have steeper colors, indicating that they are optically thin at these wavelengths, unlike their classical T Tauri star counterparts. The gaps are cleared of most ~100 μm sized grains as well as the ~10 μm sized grains visible in the mid-infrared as silicate emission features.

Exploring the Effects of Disk Thickness on the Black Hole Reflection Spectrum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Corbin; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2018-03-01

The relativistically broadened reflection spectrum, observed in both AGN and X-ray binaries, has proven to be a powerful probe of the properties of black holes and the environments in which they reside. Emitted from the innermost regions of the accretion disk, this X-ray spectral component carries with it information not only about the plasma that resides in these extreme conditions, but also the black hole spin, a marker of the formation and accretion history of these objects. The models currently used to interpret the reflection spectrum are often simplistic, however, approximating the disk as an infinitely thin, optically thick plane of material orbiting in circular Keplerian orbits around the central object. Using a new relativistic ray-tracing suite (Fenrir) that allows for more complex disk approximations, we examine the effects that disk thickness may have on the reflection spectrum. Assuming a lamppost corona, we find that finite disk thickness can have a variety of effects on the reflection spectrum, including a truncation of the blue wing (from self-shadowing of the accretion disk) and an enhancement of the red wing (from the irradiation of the central “eye wall” of the inner disk). We deduce the systematic errors on black hole spin and height that may result from neglecting these effects.

WriteShield: A Pseudo Thin Client for Prevention of Information Leakage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirihata, Yasuhiro; Sameshima, Yoshiki; Onoyama, Takashi; Komoda, Norihisa

While thin-client systems are diffusing as an effective security method in enterprises and organizations, there is a new approach called pseudo thin-client system. In this system, local disks of clients are write-protected and user data is forced to save on the central file server to realize the same security effect of conventional thin-client systems. Since it takes purely the software-based simple approach, it does not require the hardware enhancement of network and servers to reduce the installation cost. However there are several problems such as no write control to external media, memory depletion possibility, and lower security because of the exceptional write permission to the system processes. In this paper, we propose WriteShield, a pseudo thin-client system which solves these issues. In this system, the local disks are write-protected with volume filter driver and it has a virtual cache mechanism to extend the memory cache size for the write protection. This paper presents design and implementation details of WriteShield. Besides we describe the security analysis and simulation evaluation of paging algorithms for virtual cache mechanism and measure the disk I/O performance to verify its feasibility in the actual environment.

Recent Observational Progress on Accretion Disks Around Compact Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Jon M.

2016-04-01

Studies of accretion disks around black holes and neutron stars over the last ten years have made remarkable progress. Our understanding of disk evolution as a function of mass accretion rate is pushing toward a consensus on thin/thick disk transitions; an apparent switching between disk-driven outflow modes has emerged; and monitoring observations have revealed complex spectral energy distributions wherein disk reprocessing must be important. Detailed studies of disk winds, in particular, have the potential to reveal the basic physical processes that mediate disk accretion, and to connect with numerical simulations. This talk will review these developments and look ahead to the potential of Astro-H.

Modifying the Standard Disk Model for the Ultraviolet Spectral Analysis of Disk-dominated Cataclysmic Variables. I. The Novalikes MV Lyrae, BZ Camelopardalis, and V592 Cassiopeiae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godon, Patrick; Sion, Edward M.; Balman, Şölen; Blair, William P.

2017-09-01

The standard disk is often inadequate to model disk-dominated cataclysmic variables (CVs) and generates a spectrum that is bluer than the observed UV spectra. X-ray observations of these systems reveal an optically thin boundary layer (BL) expected to appear as an inner hole in the disk. Consequently, we truncate the inner disk. However, instead of removing the inner disk, we impose the no-shear boundary condition at the truncation radius, thereby lowering the disk temperature and generating a spectrum that better fits the UV data. With our modified disk, we analyze the archival UV spectra of three novalikes that cannot be fitted with standard disks. For the VY Scl systems MV Lyr and BZ Cam, we fit a hot inflated white dwarf (WD) with a cold modified disk (\\dot{M} ˜ a few 10-9 M ⊙ yr-1). For V592 Cas, the slightly modified disk (\\dot{M}˜ 6× {10}-9 {M}⊙ {{yr}}-1) completely dominates the UV. These results are consistent with Swift X-ray observations of these systems, revealing BLs merged with ADAF-like flows and/or hot coronae, where the advection of energy is likely launching an outflow and heating the WD, thereby explaining the high WD temperature in VY Scl systems. This is further supported by the fact that the X-ray hardness ratio increases with the shallowness of the UV slope in a small CV sample we examine. Furthermore, for 105 disk-dominated systems, the International Ultraviolet Explorer spectra UV slope decreases in the same order as the ratio of the X-ray flux to optical/UV flux: from SU UMa’s, to U Gem’s, Z Cam’s, UX UMa’s, and VY Scl’s.

One-dimensional analysis of plane and radial thin film flows including solid-body rotation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, S.; Hankey, W.; Faghri, A.; Swanson, T.

1989-01-01

The flow of a thin liquid film with a free surface along a horizontal plate which emanates from a pressurized vessel is examined by integrating the equations of motion across the thin liquid layer and discretizing the integrated equations using finite difference techniques. The effects of 0-g and solid-body rotation will be discussed. The two cases of interest are plane flow and radial flow. In plane flow, the liquid is considered to be flowing along a channel with no change in the width of the channel, whereas in radial flow the liquid spreads out radially over a disk, so that the area changes along the radius. It is desired to determine the height of the liquid film at any location along the plate of disk, so that the heat transfer from the plate or disk can be found. The possibility that the flow could encounter a hydraulic jump is accounted for.

GalMod: A Galactic Synthesis Population Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasetto, Stefano; Grebel, Eva K.; Chiosi, Cesare; Crnojević, Denija; Zeidler, Peter; Busso, Giorgia; Cassarà, Letizia P.; Piovan, Lorenzo; Tantalo, Rosaria; Brogliato, Claudio

2018-06-01

We present a new Galaxy population synthesis Model, GalMod. GalMod is a star-count model featuring an asymmetric bar/bulge as well as spiral arms and related extinction. The model, initially introduced in Pasetto et al., has been here completed with a central bar, a new bulge description, new disk vertical profiles, and several new bolometric corrections. The model can generate synthetic mock catalogs of visible portions of the Milky Way, external galaxies like M31, or N-body simulation initial conditions. At any given time, e.g., at a chosen age of the Galaxy, the model contains a sum of discrete stellar populations, namely the bulge/bar, disk, and halo. These populations are in turn the sum of different components: the disk is the sum of the spiral arms, thin disks, a thick disk, and various gas components, while the halo is the sum of a stellar component, a hot coronal gas, and a dark-matter component. The Galactic potential is computed from these population density profiles and used to generate detailed kinematics by considering up to the first four moments of the collisionless Boltzmann equation. The same density profiles are then used to define the observed color–magnitude diagrams in a user-defined field of view (FoV) from an arbitrary solar location. Several photometric systems have been included and made available online, and no limits on the size of the FoV are imposed thus allowing full-sky simulations, too. Finally, we model the extinction by adopting a dust model with advanced ray-tracing solutions. The model's Web page (and tutorial) can be accessed at www.GalMod.org and support is provided at Galaxy.Model@yahoo.com.

Galactic Structure in the Outer Disk: The Field in the Line of Sight to the Intermediate-age Open Cluster Tombaugh 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carraro, Giovanni; Sales Silva, Joao Victor; Moni Bidin, Christian; Vazquez, Ruben A.

2017-03-01

We employ optical photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy to study a field toward the open cluster Tombaugh 1, where we identify a complex population mixture that we describe in terms of young and old Galactic thin disks. Of particular interest is the spatial distribution of the young population, which consists of dwarfs with spectral types as early as B6 and is distributed in a blue plume feature in the color-magnitude diagram. For the first time, we confirm spectroscopically that most of these stars are early-type stars and not blue stragglers or halo/thick-disk subdwarfs. Moreover, they are not evenly distributed along the line of sight but crowd at heliocentric distances between 6.6 and 8.2 kpc. We compare these results with present-day understanding of the spiral structure of the Galaxy and suggest that they trace the outer arm. This range of distances challenges current Galactic models adopting a disk cutoff at 14 kpc from the Galactic center. The young dwarfs overlap in space with an older component, which is identified as an old Galactic thin disk. Both young and old populations are confined in space since the disk is warped at the latitude and longitude of Tombaugh 1. The main effects of the warp are that the line of sight intersects the disk and entirely crosses it at the outer arm distance and that there are no traces of the closer Perseus arm, which would then be either unimportant in this sector or located much closer to the formal Galactic plane. Finally, we analyze a group of giant stars, which turn out to be located at very different distances and to possess very different chemical properties, with no obvious relation to the other populations. Based on observations carried out at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile (program ID CN009B-042), and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.

Galactic Structure in the Outer Disk: The Field in the Line of Sight to the Intermediate-Age open Cluster Tombaugh 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carraro, Giovanni; Silva, Joao Victor Sales; Bidin, Christian Moni

We employ optical photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy to study a field toward the open cluster Tombaugh 1, where we identify a complex population mixture that we describe in terms of young and old Galactic thin disks. Of particular interest is the spatial distribution of the young population, which consists of dwarfs with spectral types as early as B6 and is distributed in a blue plume feature in the color–magnitude diagram. For the first time, we confirm spectroscopically that most of these stars are early-type stars and not blue stragglers or halo/thick-disk subdwarfs. Moreover, they are not evenly distributed along the linemore » of sight but crowd at heliocentric distances between 6.6 and 8.2 kpc. We compare these results with present-day understanding of the spiral structure of the Galaxy and suggest that they trace the outer arm. This range of distances challenges current Galactic models adopting a disk cutoff at 14 kpc from the Galactic center. The young dwarfs overlap in space with an older component, which is identified as an old Galactic thin disk. Both young and old populations are confined in space since the disk is warped at the latitude and longitude of Tombaugh 1. The main effects of the warp are that the line of sight intersects the disk and entirely crosses it at the outer arm distance and that there are no traces of the closer Perseus arm, which would then be either unimportant in this sector or located much closer to the formal Galactic plane. Finally, we analyze a group of giant stars, which turn out to be located at very different distances and to possess very different chemical properties, with no obvious relation to the other populations.« less

Photoionization Models for the Inner Gaseous Disks of Herbig Be Stars: Evidence against Magnetospheric Accretion?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, P.; Sigut, T. A. A.; Landstreet, J. D.

2017-02-01

We investigate the physical properties of the inner gaseous disks of three hot Herbig B2e stars, HD 76534, HD 114981, and HD 216629, by modeling CFHT-ESPaDOns spectra using non-LTE radiative transfer codes. We assume that the emission lines are produced in a circumstellar disk heated solely by photospheric radiation from the central star in order to test whether the optical and near-infrared emission lines can be reproduced without invoking magnetospheric accretion. The inner gaseous disk density was assumed to follow a simple power-law in the equatorial plane, and we searched for models that could reproduce observed lines of H I (Hα and Hβ), He I, Ca II, and Fe II. For the three stars, good matches were found for all emission line profiles individually; however, no density model based on a single power-law was able to reproduce all of the observed emission lines. Among the single power-law models, the one with the gas density varying as ˜10-10(R */R)3 g cm-3 in the equatorial plane of a 25 R * (0.78 au) disk did the best overall job of representing the optical emission lines of the three stars. This model implies a mass for the Hα-emitting portion of the inner gaseous disk of ˜10-9 M *. We conclude that the optical emission line spectra of these HBe stars can be qualitatively reproduced by a ≈1 au, geometrically thin, circumstellar disk of negligible mass compared to the central star in Keplerian rotation and radiative equilibrium. Based on observations obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l”Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientique of France, and the University of Hawaii.

PATCHY ACCRETION DISKS IN ULTRA-LUMINOUS X-RAY SOURCES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miller, J. M.; Bachetti, M.; Barret, D.

2014-04-10

The X-ray spectra of the most extreme ultra-luminous X-ray sources—those with L ≥ 10{sup 40} erg s{sup –1}—remain something of a mystery. Spectral roll-over in the 5-10 keV band was originally detected in the deepest XMM-Newton observations of the brightest sources; this is confirmed in subsequent NuSTAR spectra. This emission can be modeled via Comptonization, but with low electron temperatures (kT{sub e} ≅ 2 keV) and high optical depths (τ ≅ 10) that pose numerous difficulties. Moreover, evidence of cooler thermal emission that can be fit with thin disk models persists, even in fits to joint XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations.more » Using NGC 1313 X-1 as a test case, we show that a patchy disk with a multiple temperature profile may provide an excellent description of such spectra. In principle, a number of patches within a cool disk might emit over a range of temperatures, but the data only require a two-temperature profile plus standard Comptonization, or three distinct blackbody components. A mechanism such as the photon bubble instability may naturally give rise to a patchy disk profile, and could give rise to super-Eddington luminosities. It is possible, then, that a patchy disk (rather than a disk with a standard single-temperature profile) might be a hallmark of accretion disks close to or above the Eddington limit. We discuss further tests of this picture and potential implications for sources such as narrow-line Seyfert-1 galaxies and other low-mass active galactic nuclei.« less

Feasibility of Using PZT Actuators to Study the Dynamic Behavior of a Rotating Disk due to Rotor-Stator Interaction

PubMed Central

Presas, Alexandre; Egusquiza, Eduard; Valero, Carme; Valentin, David; Seidel, Ulrich

2014-01-01

In this paper, PZT actuators are used to study the dynamic behavior of a rotating disk structure due to rotor-stator interaction excitation. The disk is studied with two different surrounding fluids—air and water. The study has been performed analytically and validated experimentally. For the theoretical analysis, the natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes of the rotating disk in air and water are obtained with the Kirchhoff-Love thin plate theory coupled with the interaction with the surrounding fluid. A model for the Rotor Stator Interaction that occurs in many rotating disk-like parts of turbomachinery such as compressors, hydraulic runners or alternators is presented. The dynamic behavior of the rotating disk due to this excitation is deduced. For the experimental analysis a test rig has been developed. It consists of a stainless steel disk (r = 198 mm and h = 8 mm) connected to a variable speed motor. Excitation and response are measured from the rotating system. For the rotating excitation four piezoelectric patches have been used. Calibrating the piezoelectric patches in amplitude and phase, different rotating excitation patterns are applied on the rotating disk in air and in water. Results show the feasibility of using PZT to control the response of the disk due to a rotor-stator interaction. PMID:25004151

The near-infrared properties of compact binary systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Froning, Cynthia Suzanne

I present H- and K-band light curves of the dwarf nova cataclysmic variable (CV), IP Peg, and the novalike CV, RW Tri, and an H-band light curve of the novalike CV, SW Sex. All three systems showed contributions from the late-type secondary star and the accretion disk, including a primary eclipse of the accretion disk by the secondary star and a secondary eclipse of the star by the disk. The ellipsoidal variations of the secondary star in IP Peg were modeled and subtracted from the data. The subtracted light curves show a pronounced double-hump variation, resembling those seen in the dwarf novae WZ Sge and AL Com. The primary eclipse was modeled using maximum entropy disk mapping techniques. The accretion disk has a flat intensity distribution and a low brightness temperature (Tbr ~= 3000-4000 K). Superimposed on the face of the disk is the bright spot, where the mass accretion stream impacts the disk; the position of the bright spot is different from the range of positions seen at visible wavelengths. The near-infrared accretion disk flux is dominated by optically thin emission. The eclipse depth is too shallow to be caused by a fully opaque accretion disk. The NIR light curves in RW Tri show a deep primary eclipse of the accretion disk, ellipsoidal variations from the secondary star, a secondary eclipse, and strong flickering in the disk flux. The depth of the secondary eclipse indicates that the accretion disk is opaque. The light curve also has a hump extending from φ = 0.1-0.9 which was successfully modeled as flux from the inner face of the secondary star when heated by a ~0.2 L Lsolar source. The radial brightness temperature profile of the outer disk is consistent with models of a disk in steady-state for a mass transfer rate of M~=5×10- 10 Msolaryr- 1 . At small disk radii, however, the brightness temperature profile is flatter than the steady-state model. The H-band light curve of SW Sex is dominated by emission from the accretion disk. As in RW Tri, the light curve has a hump outside of primary eclipse which was modeled as flux from the secondary star when irradiated by a 0.2-0.3 Lsolar source. The light curve has a dip at φ = 0.5 which is consistent with an eclipse of the irradiated face of the secondary star by an opaque accretion disk. The accretion disk has a brightness temperature profile much flatter than the theoretical profile of a steady- state disk. The disk is asymmetric, with the front of the disk (the side facing the secondary star at mid-eclipse) hotter than the back. The bright spot, which appears in visible disk maps of SW Sex, is not seen in the NIR light curve. I also present H-band light curves of the X-ray binary system, A0620-00, and NIR spectra of two X-ray binaries, CI Cam, and the relativistic jet source, SS 433. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

THE STRUCTURE AND SPECTRAL FEATURES OF A THIN DISK AND EVAPORATION-FED CORONA IN HIGH-LUMINOSITY ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, J. Y.; Liu, B. F.; Qiao, E. L.

We investigate the accretion process in high-luminosity active galactic nuclei (HLAGNs) in the scenario of the disk evaporation model. Based on this model, the thin disk can extend down to the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) at accretion rates higher than 0.02 M-dot{sub Edd} while the corona is weak since part of the coronal gas is cooled by strong inverse Compton scattering of the disk photons. This implies that the corona cannot produce as strong X-ray radiation as observed in HLAGNs with large Eddington ratio. In addition to the viscous heating, other heating to the corona is necessary to interpretmore » HLAGN. In this paper, we assume that a part of accretion energy released in the disk is transported into the corona, heating up the electrons, and is thereby radiated away. For the first time, we compute the corona structure with additional heating, fully taking into account the mass supply to the corona, and find that the corona could indeed survive at higher accretion rates and that its radiation power increases. The spectra composed of bremsstrahlung and Compton radiation are also calculated. Our calculations show that the Compton-dominated spectrum becomes harder with the increase of energy fraction (f) liberating in the corona, and the photon index for hard X-ray (2-10 keV) is 2.2 < {Gamma} < 2.7. We discuss possible heating mechanisms for the corona. Combining the energy fraction transported to the corona with the accretion rate by magnetic heating, we find that the hard X-ray spectrum becomes steeper at a larger accretion rate and the bolometric correction factor (L{sub bol}/L{sub 2-10keV}) increases with increasing accretion rate for f < 8/35, which is roughly consistent with the observational results.« less

VOSED: a tool for the characterization of developing planetary systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solano, E.; Gutiérrez, R.; Delgado, A.; Sarro, L. M.; Merín, B.

2007-08-01

The transition phase from optically thick disks around young pre-main sequence stars to optically thin debris disks around Vega type stars is not well understood and plays an important role in the theory of planet formation. One of the most promising methods to characterize this process is the fitting of the observed SED with disk models. However, despite its potential, this technique is affected by two major problems if a non-VO methodology is used: on the one hand, SEDs building requires accessing to a variety of astronomical services which provide, in most of the cases, heterogeneous information. On the other hand, model fitting demands a tremendous amount of work and time which makes it very inefficient even for a modest dataset. This is an important issue considering the large volume of data that missions like Spitzer is producing. In the framework of the Spanish Virtual Observatory (SVO) we have developed VOSED an application that permits to characterize the protoplanetary disks around young stars taking advantage of the already existing VO standards and tools. The application allows the user to gather photometric and spectroscopic information from a number of VO services, trace the SED, and fit the photospheric contribution with a stellar model and the IR excess with a disk model. The Kurucz models described in Castelli et al. (1997, A&A, 318, 841) are used to reproduce the photospheric contribution whereas the grid of models of accretion disks irradiated by their central stars developed by D'Alessio et al. (2005, ) is used for the disk contribution. In both cases, the models are retrieved from the SVO Theoretical Model Web Server using the TSAP protocol. As pointed out before, model fitting constitutes a fundamental step in the analysis process. VOSED includes a tool to estimate the model parameters (both stellar and disk) based on bayesian inference. The main aim of the tool is to quantitatively analyse the data in terms of the evidence of models of different complexity, evaluate what other alternative models can compete with the most a posteriori probable one and what are the most discriminant observations to discard alternatives.

Underwater sound transmission through arrays of disk cavities in a soft elastic medium.

PubMed

Calvo, David C; Thangawng, Abel L; Layman, Christopher N; Casalini, Riccardo; Othman, Shadi F

2015-10-01

Scattering from a cavity in a soft elastic medium, such as silicone rubber, resembles scattering from an underwater bubble in that low-frequency monopole resonance is obtainable in both cases. Arrays of cavities can therefore be used to reduce underwater sound transmission using thin layers and low void fractions. This article examines the role of cavity shape by microfabricating arrays of disk-shaped air cavities into single and multiple layers of polydimethylsiloxane. Comparison is made with the case of equivalent volume cylinders which approximate spheres. Measurements of ultrasonic underwater sound transmission are compared with finite element modeling predictions. The disks provide a deeper transmission minimum at a lower frequency owing to the drum-type breathing resonance. The resonance of a single disk cavity in an unbounded medium is also calculated and compared with a derived estimate of the natural frequency of the drum mode. Variation of transmission is determined as a function of disk tilt angle, lattice constant, and layer thickness. A modeled transmission loss of 18 dB can be obtained at a wavelength about 20 times the three-layer thickness, and thinner results (wavelength/thickness ∼ 240) are possible for the same loss with a single layer depending on allowable hydrostatic pressure.

Milky Way Tomography with K and M Dwarf Stars: The Vertical Structure of the Galactic Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, Deborah; Gardner, Susan; Yanny, Brian

2017-07-01

We use the number density distributions of K and M dwarf stars with vertical height from the Galactic disk, determined using observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to probe the structure of the Milky Way disk across the survey’s footprint. Using photometric parallax as a distance estimator we analyze a sample of several million disk stars in matching footprints above and below the Galactic plane, and we determine the location and extent of vertical asymmetries in the number counts in a variety of thin- and thick-disk subsamples in regions of some 200 square degrees within 2 kpc in vertical distance from the Galactic disk. These disk asymmetries present wave-like features as previously observed on other scales and at other distances from the Sun. We additionally explore the scale height of the disk and the implied offset of the Sun from the Galactic plane at different locations, noting that the scale height of the disk can differ significantly when measured using stars only above or only below the plane. Moreover, we compare the shape of the number density distribution in the north for different latitude ranges with a fixed range in longitude and find the shape to be sensitive to the selected latitude window. We explain why this may be indicative of a change in stellar populations in the latitude regions compared, possibly allowing access to the systematic metallicity difference between thin- and thick-disk populations through photometry.

Milky Way Tomography with K and M Dwarf Stars: The Vertical Structure of the Galactic Disk

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ferguson, Deborah; Gardner, Susan; Yanny, Brian

2017-07-10

We use the number density distributions of K and M dwarf stars with vertical height from the Galactic disk, determined using observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to probe the structure of the Milky Way disk across the survey’s footprint. Using photometric parallax as a distance estimator we analyze a sample of several million disk stars in matching footprints above and below the Galactic plane, and we determine the location and extent of vertical asymmetries in the number counts in a variety of thin- and thick-disk subsamples in regions of some 200 square degrees within 2 kpc in verticalmore » distance from the Galactic disk. These disk asymmetries present wave-like features as previously observed on other scales and at other distances from the Sun. We additionally explore the scale height of the disk and the implied offset of the Sun from the Galactic plane at different locations, noting that the scale height of the disk can differ significantly when measured using stars only above or only below the plane. Moreover, we compare the shape of the number density distribution in the north for different latitude ranges with a fixed range in longitude and find the shape to be sensitive to the selected latitude window. We explain why this may be indicative of a change in stellar populations in the latitude regions compared, possibly allowing access to the systematic metallicity difference between thin- and thick-disk populations through photometry.« less

Milky Way tomography with K and M dwarf stars: The vertical structure of the galactic disk

DOE PAGES

Ferguson, Deborah; Gardner, Susan; Yanny, Brian

2017-06-02

Here, we use the number density distributions of K and M dwarf stars with vertical height from the Galactic disk, determined using observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), to probe the structure of the Milky Way disk across the survey's footprint. Using photometric parallax as a distance estimator we analyze a sample of several million disk stars in matching footprints above and below the Galactic plane, and we determine the location and extent of vertical asymmetries in the number counts in a variety of thin and thick disk subsamples in regions of some 200 square degrees within 2more » kpc in vertical distance from the Galactic disk. These disk asymmetries present wave-like features as previously observed on other scales and distances from the Sun. We additionally explore the scale height of the disk and the implied offset of the Sun from the Galactic plane at different locations, noting that the scale height of the disk can differ significantly when measured using stars only above or only below the plane. Moreover, we compare the shape of the number density distribution in the north for different latitude ranges with a fixed range in longitude and find the shape to be sensitive to the selected latitude window. We explain why this may be indicative of a change in stellar populations in the compared latitude regions, possibly allowing access to the systematic metallicity difference between thin and thick disk populations through photometry.« less

20 mJ, 1 ps Yb:YAG Thin-disk Regenerative Amplifier

PubMed Central

Alismail, Ayman; Wang, Haochuan; Brons, Jonathan; Fattahi, Hanieh

2017-01-01

This is a report on a 100 W, 20 mJ, 1 ps Yb:YAG thin-disk regenerative amplifier. A homemade Yb:YAG thin-disk, Kerr-lens mode-locked oscillator with turn-key performance and microjoule-level pulse energy is used to seed the regenerative chirped-pulse amplifier. The amplifier is placed in airtight housing. It operates at room temperature and exhibits stable operation at a 5 kHz repetition rate, with a pulse-to-pulse stability less than 1%. By employing a 1.5 mm-thick beta barium borate crystal, the frequency of the laser output is doubled to 515 nm, with an average power of 70 W, which corresponds to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 70%. This superior performance makes the system an attractive pump source for optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers in the near-infrared and mid-infrared spectral range. Combining the turn-key performance and the superior stability of the regenerative amplifier, the system facilitates the generation of a broadband, CEP-stable seed. Providing the seed and pump of the optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) from one laser source eliminates the demand of active temporal synchronization between these pulses. This work presents a detailed guide to set up and operate a Yb:YAG thin-disk regenerative amplifier, based on chirped-pulse amplification (CPA), as a pump source for an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier. PMID:28745636

Propagation of tidal disturbance in gaseous accretion disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, D. N. C.; Papaloizou, J. C. B.; Savonije, G. J.

1990-01-01

Linear wave propagation is studied in geometrically thin accretion disks where the equilibrium variables, such as density and temperature, are stratified in the direction normal to the plane of the disk; i.e., the vertical direction. It is shown, due to refraction effects, that waves excited by tidal disturbances induced by a satellite or a companion of the central object are not expected to reach the interior regions of the disk with a significant amplitude.

Rotation and Mass Loss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owocki, S.

2008-06-01

Stellar rotation can play an important role in structuring and enhancing the mass loss from massive stars. Initial 1D models focussed on the expected centrifugal enhancement of the line-driven mass flux from the equator of a rotating star, but the review here emphasizes that the loss of centrifugal support away from the stellar surface actually limits the steady mass flux to just the point-star CAK value, with models near critical rotation characterized by a slow, subcritical acceleration. Recent suggestions that such slow outflows might have high enough density to explain disks in Be or B[e] stars are examined in the context of 2D simulations of the ``Wind Compressed Disk'' (WCD) paradigm, together with a review of the tendency for poleward components of the line-driving force to inhibit WCD formation. When one accounts for equatorial gravity darkening, the net tendency is in fact for the relatively bright regions at higher latitude to drive a faster, denser ``bipolar'' outflow. I discuss the potential relevance for the bipolar form of nebulae from LBV stars like η Carinae, but emphasize that, since the large mass loss associated with the eruption of eta Carinae's Homunculus would heavily saturate line-driving, explaining its bipolar form requires development of analogous models for continuum-driven mass loss. I conclude with a discussion of how radiation seems inherently ill-suited to supporting or driving a geometrically thin, but optically thick disk or disk outflow. The disks inferred in Be and B[e] stars may instead be centrifugally ejected, with radiation inducing an ablation flow from the disk surface, and thus perhaps playing a greater role in destroying (rather than creating) an orbiting, circumstellar disk.

A magnetic model for low/hard state of black hole binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Yong-Chun; Wang, Ding-Xiong; Huang, Chang-Yin; Cao, Xiao-Feng

2016-03-01

A magnetic model for the low/hard state (LHS) of two black hole X-ray binaries (BHXBs), H1743-322 and GX 339-4, is proposed based on transport of the magnetic field from a companion into an accretion disk around a black hole (BH). This model consists of a truncated thin disk with an inner advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The spectral profiles of the sources are fitted in agreement with the data observed at four different dates corresponding to the rising phase of the LHS. In addition, the association of the LHS with a quasi-steady jet is modeled based on transport of magnetic field, where the Blandford-Znajek (BZ) and Blandford-Payne (BP) processes are invoked to drive the jets from BH and inner ADAF. It turns out that the steep radio/X-ray correlations observed in H1743-322 and GX 339-4 can be interpreted based on our model.

Noise characteristics of barium ferrite particulate rigid disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kodama, Naoki; Inoue, Hitoshi; Spratt, Geoffrey; Uesaka, Yasutaro; Katsumoto, Masayuki

1991-04-01

This paper discusses the relationship between the noise characteristics and magnetic properties of longitudinal barium ferrite (Ba-F) rigid disks with different switching field distributions (SFD). The magnetomotive force dependencies of reverse dc-erase (RDC) noise are measured and compared with SFD values. Coated disks with acicular magnetic particles have dips and thin-film disks peaks in the RDC. In Ba-F disks, both cases are observed depending on the SFD values, though the depths or heights of the RDC noise are much smaller than those of coated disks with acicular particles or thin-film disks. Disks with small SFD values have peaks, and disks with large SFD values have dips. In order to find the relationship between noise properties and magnetic properties, interparticle interactions in Ba-F disks are investigated. Reverse dc remanence Id(H) and ac-demagnetized isothermal remanence Ir(H) are measured. Both are normalized by the saturation remanence. The deviation from the noninteracting system, ΔM = Id(H) - [1ΔM=Id(H)-[1- 2Ir(H)] and an interaction field factor (IFF) given by (H'r - Hr)/Hc, are derived from these remanent properties. Here, H'r is the field corresponding to 50% of the remanent magnetization, Hr is remanence coercivity. In Ba-F disks, ΔM shows positive interactions, and the peak heights of ΔM increase and IFF decrease with decreasing SFD values. Positive interactions between Ba-F particles seem to be caused by particle stacking. Therefore, particle stacking results in small SFD values and peak-type RDC noise.

An ALMA Survey of Planet Forming Disks in Rho Ophiuchus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Erin Guilfoil; Looney, Leslie; Harris, Robert J.; Dong, Jiayin; Segura-Cox, Dominique; Tobin, John J.; Sadavoy, Sarah; Li, Zhi-Yun; Dunham, Michael; Perez, Laura M.; Chandler, Claire J.; Kratter, Kaitlin M.; Melis, Carl; Chiang, Hsin-Fang

2017-01-01

Relatively evolved (~ 1 Myr old) protostars with little residual natal envelope, but massive disks, are commonly assumed to be the sites of ongoing planet formation. Critical to our study of these objects is information about the available mass reservior and dust structure, as they directly tie in to how much mass is available for planets as well as the modes of planet formation that occur (i.e., core-accretion vs. gravitational instability). Millimeter-wave observations provide this critical information as continuum emission is relatively optically thin, allowing for mass estimates, and the availability of high-resolution interferometry, allowing structure constraints. We present high-resolution observations of the population of Class II protostars in the Rho-Ophiuchus cloud (d ~ 130 pc). Our survey observed ~50 of these older protostars at 870µm, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Out of these sources, there are ~10 transition disks, where we see a ring of dust emission surrounding the central protostar -- indicative of ongoing planet formation -- as well as many binary systems. Both of these stages have implications for star and planet formation. We present results from both 1-D and 2-D disk modeling, where we try to understand disk substructure that might indicate on-going planet formation, in particular, transition disk cavities, disk gaps, and asymmetries in the dust emission.

Variable H13CO+ Emission in the IM Lup Disk: X-Ray Driven Time-dependent Chemistry?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cleeves, L. Ilsedore; Bergin, Edwin A.; Öberg, Karin I.; Andrews, Sean; Wilner, David; Loomis, Ryan

2017-07-01

We report the first detection of a substantial brightening event in an isotopologue of a key molecular ion, HCO+, within a protoplanetary disk of a T Tauri star. The H13CO+ J=3-2 rotational transition was observed three times toward IM Lup between 2014 July and 2015 May with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The first two observations show similar spectrally integrated line and continuum fluxes, while the third observation shows a doubling in the disk-integrated J=3-2 line flux compared to the continuum, which does not change between the three epochs. We explore models of an X-ray active star irradiating the disk via stellar flares, and find that the optically thin H13CO+ emission variation can potentially be explained via X-ray-driven chemistry temporarily enhancing the HCO+ abundance in the upper layers of the disk atmosphere during large or prolonged flaring events. If the HCO+ enhancement is indeed caused by an X-ray flare, future observations should be able to spatially resolve these events and potentially enable us to watch the chemical aftermath of the high-energy stellar radiation propagating across the face of protoplanetary disks, providing a new pathway to explore ionization physics and chemistry, including electron density, in disks.

Ω-slow Solutions and Be Star Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Araya, I.; Jones, C. E.; Curé, M.; Silaj, J.; Cidale, L.; Granada, A.; Jiménez, A.

2017-09-01

As the disk formation mechanism(s) in Be stars is(are) as yet unknown, we investigate the role of rapidly rotating radiation-driven winds in this process. We implemented the effects of high stellar rotation on m-CAK models accounting for the shape of the star, the oblate finite disk correction factor, and gravity darkening. For a fast rotating star, we obtain a two-component wind model, I.e., a fast, thin wind in the polar latitudes and an Ω-slow, dense wind in the equatorial regions. We use the equatorial mass densities to explore Hα emission profiles for the following scenarios: (1) a spherically symmetric star, (2) an oblate star with constant temperature, and (3) an oblate star with gravity darkening. One result of this work is that we have developed a novel method for solving the gravity-darkened, oblate m-CAK equation of motion. Furthermore, from our modeling we find that (a) the oblate finite disk correction factor, for the scenario considering the gravity darkening, can vary by at least a factor of two between the equatorial and polar directions, influencing the velocity profile and mass-loss rate accordingly, (b) the Hα profiles predicted by our model are in agreement with those predicted by a standard power-law model for following values of the line-force parameters: 1.5≲ k≲ 3,α ˜ 0.6, and δ ≳ 0.1, and (c) the contribution of the fast wind component to the Hα emission line profile is negligible; therefore, the line profiles arise mainly from the equatorial disks of Be stars.

Transport Phenomena in Thin Rotating Liquid Films Including: Nucleate Boiling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Faghri, Amir

2005-01-01

In this grant, experimental, numerical and analytical studies of heat transfer in a thin liquid film flowing over a rotating disk have been conducted. Heat transfer coefficients were measured experimentally in a rotating disk heat transfer apparatus where the disk was heated from below with electrical resistance heaters. The heat transfer measurements were supplemented by experimental characterization of the liquid film thickness using a novel laser based technique. The heat transfer measurements show that the disk rotation plays an important role on enhancement of heat transfer primarily through the thinning of the liquid film. Experiments covered both momentum and rotation dominated regimes of the flow and heat transfer in this apparatus. Heat transfer measurements have been extended to include evaporation and nucleate boiling and these experiments are continuing in our laboratory. Empirical correlations have also been developed to provide useful information for design of compact high efficiency heat transfer devices. The experimental work has been supplemented by numerical and analytical analyses of the same problem. Both numerical and analytical results have been found to agree reasonably well with the experimental results on liquid film thickness and heat transfer Coefficients/Nusselt numbers. The numerical simulations include the free surface liquid film flow and heat transfer under disk rotation including the conjugate effects. The analytical analysis utilizes an integral boundary layer approach from which

Chemical Composition of Galactic Disk Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishenina, T. V.; Basak, N. Yu.; Gorbaneva, T. I.; Soubiran, C.; Kovtyukh, V. V.

Abundances of Na, Al, Ca, in the stars of galactic disks are obtained. The separation of thin and stars on cinematic criterion was made early. The behavior of chemical element abundances with metallicity for studied stars was presented.

Viscous pulsational instability of the transonic region of isothermal geometrically thin accretion discs. I - Analytical results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, Shoji; Honma, Fumio; Matsumoto, Ryoji

1988-03-01

Viscous instability of the transonic region of the conventional geometrically thin alpha-type accretion disks is examined analytically. For simplicity, isothermal disks and isothermal perturbations are assumed. It is found that when the value of alpha is larger than a critical value the disk is unstable against two types of perturbations. One is local propagating perturbations of inertial acoustic waves. Results suggest the possibility that unstable perturbations develop to overstable global oscillations which are restricted only in the innermost region of the disk. The other is standing growing perturbations localized just at the transonic point. The cause of these instabilities is that the azimuthal component of the Lagrangian velocity variation associated with the perturbations becomes in phase with the variation of the viscous stress force. Because of this phase matching work is done on perturbations, and they are amplified.

Planetary influence in the gap of a protoplanetary disk: structure formation and an application to V1247 Ori

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarez-Meraz, R.; Nagel, E.; Rendon, F.; Barragan, O.

2017-10-01

We present a set of hydrodynamical models of a planetary system embedded in a protoplanetary disk in order to extract the number of dust structures formed in the disk, their masses and sizes, within optical depth ranges τ≤0.5, 0.5<τ<2 and τ≥2. The study of the structures shows: (1) an increase in the number of planets implies an increase in the creation rate of massive structures; (2) a lower planetary mass accretion corresponds to slower time effects for optically thin structures; (3) an increase in the number of planets allows a faster evolution of the structures in the Hill radius for the different optical depth ranges of the inner planets. An ad-hoc simulation was run using the available information of the stellar system V1247 Ori, leading to a model of a planetary system which explains the SED and is consistent with interferometric observations of structures.

Reverberation Mapping of the Broad Line Region: Application to a Hydrodynamical Line-driven Disk Wind Solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waters, Tim; Kashi, Amit; Proga, Daniel; Eracleous, Michael; Barth, Aaron J.; Greene, Jenny

2016-08-01

The latest analysis efforts in reverberation mapping are beginning to allow reconstruction of echo images (or velocity-delay maps) that encode information about the structure and kinematics of the broad line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Such maps can constrain sophisticated physical models for the BLR. The physical picture of the BLR is often theorized to be a photoionized wind launched from the AGN accretion disk. Previously we showed that the line-driven disk wind solution found in an earlier simulation by Proga and Kallman is virialized over a large distance from the disk. This finding implies that, according to this model, black hole masses can be reliably estimated through reverberation mapping techniques. However, predictions of echo images expected from line-driven disk winds are not available. Here, after presenting the necessary radiative transfer methodology, we carry out the first calculations of such predictions. We find that the echo images are quite similar to other virialized BLR models such as randomly orbiting clouds and thin Keplerian disks. We conduct a parameter survey exploring how echo images, line profiles, and transfer functions depend on both the inclination angle and the line opacity. We find that the line profiles are almost always single peaked, while transfer functions tend to have tails extending to large time delays. The outflow, despite being primarily equatorially directed, causes an appreciable blueshifted excess on both the echo image and line profile when seen from lower inclinations (I≲ 45^\\circ ). This effect may be observable in low ionization lines such as {{H}}β .

Improvement of thermal management in the composite Yb:YAG/YAG thin-disk laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, I. I.; Mukhin, I. B.; Palashov, O. V.

2016-04-01

To improve the thermal management in the composite Yb:YAG/YAG thin-disk laser a new design of laser head is developed. Thermal-induced phase distortions, small signal gain and lasing in the upgraded laser head are investigated and compared with previously published results. A substantial decrease of the thermal lens optical power and phase aberrations and increase of the laser slope efficiency are observed. A continuous-wave laser with 440 W average power and 44% slope efficiency is constructed.

Angular Momentum Transport in Thin Magnetically Arrested Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, Megan D.; Avara, Mark J.; McKinney, Jonathan C.

2018-05-01

In accretion disks with large-scale ordered magnetic fields, the magnetorotational instability (MRI) is marginally suppressed, so other processes may drive angular momentum transport leading to accretion. Accretion could then be driven by large-scale magnetic fields via magnetic braking, and large-scale magnetic flux can build-up onto the black hole and within the disk leading to a magnetically-arrested disk (MAD). Such a MAD state is unstable to the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability, which itself leads to vigorous turbulence and the emergence of low-density highly-magnetized bubbles. This instability was studied in a thin (ratio of half-height H to radius R, H/R ≈ 0.1) MAD simulation, where it has a more dramatic effect on the dynamics of the disk than for thicker disks. Large amounts of flux are pushed off the black hole into the disk, leading to temporary decreases in stress, then this flux is reprocessed as the stress increases again. Throughout this process, we find that the dominant component of the stress is due to turbulent magnetic fields, despite the suppression of the axisymmetric MRI and the dominant presence of large-scale magnetic fields. This suggests that the magnetic RT instability plays a significant role in driving angular momentum transport in MADs.

Self-Consistent Models of Accretion Disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Narayan, Ramesh

1997-01-01

The investigations of advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs), with emphasis on applications to X-ray binaries containing black holes and neutron stars is presented. This work is now being recognized as the standard paradigm for understanding the various spectral states of black hole X-ray Binaries (BHXBs). Topics discussed include: (1) Problem in BHXBS, namely that several of these binaries have unusually large concentrations of lithium in their companion stars; (2) A novel test to show that black holes have event horizons; (3) Application of the ADAF model to the puzzling X-ray delay in the recent outburst of the BHXB, GRO J1655-40; (4) Description of the various spectral states in BHXBS; (5) Application of the ADAF model to the famous supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy, Sgr A(*); (6) Writing down and solving equations describing steady-state, optically thin, advection-dominated accretion onto a Kerr black hole; (7) The effect of "photon bubble" instability on radiation dominated accretion disks; and (8) Dwarf nova disks in quiescence that have rather low magnetic Reynolds number, of order 10(exp 3).

Observations of A0535 + 26 with the SMM satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sembay, S.; Schwartz, R. A.; Orwig, L. E.; Dennis, B. R.; Davies, S. R.

1990-01-01

An examination of archival data from the hard X-ray instruments on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite has revealed a previously undetected outburst from the recurrent X-ray transient, A0535 + 26. The outburst occurred in June 1983 and reached a peak intensity of about 2 crab units in the energy range 32-91 keV. The outburst was detected over a span of 18 days, and the pulse period was observed to spin-up with an average rate of about -6 x 10 to the -8th s/s. A recently proposed model for A0535 + 26 has a pulsar powered by a short-lived accretion disk. A thin accretion disk model is fitted to the present data, assuming an orbital period of 111 days. Two solutions to the magnetic moment of the neutron star are derived. The slow rotator solution is more consistent with the model than the fast rotator, on the grounds that the conditions for the formation of an accretion disk are more favorable for a lower magnetic field strength.

Kilowatt-level direct-'refractive index matching liquid'-cooled Nd:YLF thin disk laser resonator.

PubMed

Ye, Zhibin; Liu, Chong; Tu, Bo; Wang, Ke; Gao, Qingsong; Tang, Chun; Cai, Zhen

2016-01-25

A direct-liquid-cooled Nd:YLF thin disk laser resonator is presented, which features the use of refractive index matching liquid (RIML) as coolant. Highly uniform pump intensity distribution with rectangular shape is realized by using metallic planar waveguides. Much attention has been paid on the design of the gain module, including how to achieve excellent cooling ability with multi-channel coolers and how to choose the doping levels of the crystals for realizing well-distributed pump absorption. The flow velocity of the coolant is found to be a key parameter for laser performance and optimized to keep it in laminar flow status for dissipating unwanted heat load. A single channel device is used to measure the convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) at different flow velocities. Accordingly, the thermal stress in the disk is analyzed numerically and the maximum permissible thermal load is estimated. Experimentally, with ten pieces of a-cut Nd:YLF thin disks of different doping levels, a linear polarized laser with an average output power of 1120 W is achieved at the pump power of 5202 W, corresponding to an optical-optical efficiency of 21.5%, and a slope efficiency of 30.8%. Furthermore, the wavefront aberration of the gain module is measured to be quite weak, with a peak to valley (PV) value of 4.0 μm when it is pumped at 5202 W, which enables the feasibility of its application in an unstable resonator. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of kilowatt-level direct-'refractive index matching liquid'-cooled Nd:YLF thin disk laser resonator.

On the origin of power-law X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schlosman, I.; Shaham, J.; Shaviv, G.

1984-01-01

In the present analytical model for a power law X-ray continuum production in active galactic nuclei, the dissipation of turbulent energy flux above the accretion disk forms an optically thin transition layer with an inverted temperature gradient. The emitted thermal radiation has a power law spectrum in the 0.1-100 keV range, with a photon energy spectral index gamma of about 0.4-1.0. Thermal X-ray contribution from the layer is 5-10 percent of the total disk luminosity. The gamma value of 0.75 is suggested as a 'natural' power law index for Seyfert galaxies and QSOs.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mittal, Tushar; Chen, Christine H.; Jang-Condell, Hannah

During the Spitzer Space Telescope cryogenic mission, astronomers obtained Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) observations of hundreds of debris disk candidates that have been compiled in the Spitzer IRS Debris Disk Catalog. We have discovered 10 and/or 20 μm silicate emission features toward 120 targets in the catalog and modeled the IRS spectra of these sources, consistent with MIPS 70 μm observations, assuming that the grains are composed of silicates (olivine, pyroxene, forsterite, and enstatite) and are located either in a continuous disk with power-law size and surface density distributions or thin rings that are well-characterized using two separate dust grain temperatures.more » For systems better fit by the continuous disk model, we find that (1) the dust size distribution power-law index is consistent with that expected from a collisional cascade, q = 3.5-4.0, with a large number of values outside this range, and (2) the minimum grain size, a {sub min}, increases with stellar luminosity, L {sub *}, but the dependence of a {sub min} on L {sub *} is weaker than expected from radiation pressure alone. In addition, we also find that (3) the crystalline fraction of dust in debris disks evolves as a function of time with a large dispersion in crystalline fractions for stars of any particular stellar age or mass, (4) the disk inner edge is correlated with host star mass, and (5) there exists substantial variation in the properties of coeval disks in Sco-Cen, indicating that the observed variation is probably due to stochasticity and diversity in planet formation.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Follette, Katherine B.; Close, Laird; Tamura, Motohide

We present the first near infrared (NIR) spatially resolved images of the circumstellar transitional disk around SR21. These images were obtained with the Subaru HiCIAO camera, adaptive optics, and the polarized differential imaging technique. We resolve the disk in scattered light at H-band for stellocentric 0.''1 {<=} r {<=} 0.''6 (12 {approx}< r {approx}< 75 AU). We compare our results with previously published spatially resolved 880 {mu}m continuum Submillimeter Array images that show an inner r {approx}< 36 AU cavity in SR21. Radiative transfer models reveal that the large disk depletion factor invoked to explain SR21's sub-mm cavity cannot bemore » 'universal' for all grain sizes. Even significantly more moderate depletions ({delta} = 0.1, 0.01 relative to an undepleted disk) than those that reproduce the sub-mm cavity ({delta} {approx} 10{sup -6}) are inconsistent with our H-band images when they are assumed to carry over to small grains, suggesting that surface grains scattering in the NIR either survive or are generated by whatever mechanism is clearing the disk midplane. In fact, the radial polarized intensity profile of our H-band observations is smooth and steeply inwardly-increasing (r {sup -3}), with no evidence of a break at the 36 AU sub-mm cavity wall. We hypothesize that this profile is dominated by an optically thin disk envelope or atmosphere component. We also discuss the compatibility of our data with the previously postulated existence of a sub-stellar companion to SR21 at r {approx} 10-20 AU, and find that we can neither exclude nor verify this scenario. This study demonstrates the power of multiwavelength imaging of transitional disks to inform modeling efforts, including the debate over precisely what physical mechanism is responsible for clearing these disks of their large midplane grains.« less

Two-dimensional modeling of density and thermal structure of dense circumstellar outflowing disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurfürst, P.; Feldmeier, A.; Krtička, J.

2018-06-01

Context. Evolution of massive stars is affected by a significant loss of mass either via (nearly) spherically symmetric stellar winds or by aspherical mass-loss mechanisms, namely the outflowing equatorial disks. However, the scenario that leads to the formation of a disk or rings of gas and dust around massive stars is still under debate. It is also unclear how various forming physical mechanisms of the circumstellar environment affect its shape and density, as well as its kinematic and thermal structure. Aims: We study the hydrodynamic and thermal structure of optically thick, dense parts of outflowing circumstellar disks that may be formed around various types of critically rotating massive stars, for example, Be stars, B[e] supergiant (sgB[e]) stars or Pop III stars. We calculate self-consistent time-dependent models of temperature and density structure in the disk's inner dense region that is strongly affected by irradiation from a rotationally oblate central star and by viscous heating. Methods: Using the method of short characteristics, we specify the optical depth of the disk along the line-of-sight from stellar poles. Within the optically thick dense region with an optical depth of τ > 2/3 we calculate the vertical disk thermal structure using the diffusion approximation while for the optically thin outer layers we assume a local thermodynamic equilibrium with the impinging stellar irradiation. For time-dependent hydrodynamic modeling, we use two of our own types of hydrodynamic codes: two-dimensional operator-split numerical code based on an explicit Eulerian finite volume scheme on a staggered grid, and unsplit code based on the Roe's method, both including full second-order Navier-Stokes shear viscosity. Results: Our models show the geometric distribution and contribution of viscous heating that begins to dominate in the central part of the disk for mass-loss rates higher than Ṁ ≳ 10-10 M⊙ yr-1. In the models of dense viscous disks with Ṁ > 10-8 M⊙ yr-1, the viscosity increases the central temperature up to several tens of thousands of Kelvins, however the temperature rapidly drops with radius and with distance from the disk midplane. The high mass-loss rates and high viscosity lead to instabilities with significant waves or bumps in density and temperature in the very inner disk region. Conclusions: The two-dimensional radial-vertical models of dense outflowing disks including the full Navier-Stokes viscosity terms show very high temperatures that are however limited to only the central disk cores inside the optically thick area, while near the edge of the optically thick region the temperature may be low enough for the existence of neutral hydrogen, for example.

One-dimensional analysis of the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of thin film flows including the hydraulic jump and rotation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, S.; Hankey, W.; Faghri, A.; Swanson, T.

1990-01-01

The flow of a thin liquid film with a free surface along a horizontal plane that emanates from a pressurized vessel is examined numerically. In one g, a hydraulic jump was predicted in both plane and radial flow, which could be forced away from the inlet by increasing the inlet Froude number or Reynolds number. In zero g, the hydraulic jump was not predicted. The effect of solid-body rotation for radial flow in one g was to 'wash out' the hydraulic jump and to decrease the film height on the disk. The liquid film heights under one g and zero g were equal under solid-body rotation because the effect of centrifugal force was much greater than that of the gravitational force. The heat transfer to a film on a rotating disk was predicted to be greater than that of a stationary disk because the liquid film is extremely thin and is moving with a very high velocity.

Resolved Millimeter Observations of the HR 8799 Debris Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilner, David J.; MacGregor, Meredith A.; Andrews, Sean M.; Hughes, A. Meredith; Matthews, Brenda; Su, Kate

2018-03-01

We present 1.3 mm observations of the debris disk surrounding the HR 8799 multi-planet system from the Submillimeter Array to complement archival ALMA observations that spatially filtered away the bulk of the emission. The image morphology at 3.″8 (150 au) resolution indicates an optically thin circumstellar belt, which we associate with a population of dust-producing planetesimals within the debris disk. The interferometric visibilities are fit well by an axisymmetric radial power-law model characterized by a broad width, ΔR/R ≳ 1. The belt inclination and orientation parameters are consistent with the planet orbital parameters within the mutual uncertainties. The models constrain the radial location of the inner edge of the belt to {R}in}={104}-12+8 au. In a simple scenario where the chaotic zone of the outermost planet b truncates the planetesimal distribution, this inner edge location translates into a constraint on the planet b mass of {M}pl}={5.8}-3.1+7.9 M Jup. This mass estimate is consistent with infrared observations of the planet luminosity and standard hot-start evolutionary models, with the uncertainties allowing for a range of initial conditions. We also present new 9 mm observations of the debris disk from the Very Large Array and determine a millimeter spectral index of 2.41 ± 0.17. This value is typical of debris disks and indicates a power-law index of the grain size distribution q = 3.27 ± 0.10, close to predictions for a classical collisional cascade.

Radiation Hydrodynamical Turbulence in Protoplanetary Disks: Numerical Models and Observational Constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flock, Mario; Nelson, Richard P.; Turner, Neal J.; Bertrang, Gesa H.-M.; Carrasco-González, Carlos; Henning, Thomas; Lyra, Wladimir; Teague, Richard

2017-12-01

Planets are born in protostellar disks, which are now observed with enough resolution to address questions about internal gas flows. Magnetic forces are possibly drivers of the flows, but ionization state estimates suggest that much of the gas mass decouples from magnetic fields. Thus, hydrodynamical instabilities could play a major role. We investigate disk dynamics under conditions typical for a T Tauri system, using global 3D radiation-hydrodynamics simulations with embedded particles and a resolution of 70 cells per scale height. Stellar irradiation heating is included with realistic dust opacities. The disk starts in joint radiative balance and hydrostatic equilibrium. The vertical shear instability (VSI) develops into turbulence that persists up to at least 1600 inner orbits (143 outer orbits). Turbulent speeds are a few percent of the local sound speed at the midplane, increasing to 20%, or 100 m s-1, in the corona. These are consistent with recent upper limits on turbulent speeds from optically thin and thick molecular line observations of TW Hya and HD 163296. The predominantly vertical motions induced by the VSI efficiently lift particles upward. Grains 0.1 and 1 mm in size achieve scale heights greater than expected in isotropic turbulence. We conclude that while kinematic constraints from molecular line emission do not directly discriminate between magnetic and nonmagnetic disk models, the small dust scale heights measured in HL Tau and HD 163296 favor turbulent magnetic models, which reach lower ratios of the vertical kinetic energy density to the accretion stress.

NuSTAR Observations of Water Megamaser AGN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masini, A.; Comastri, A.; Balokvic, M.; Zaw, I.; Puccetti, S.; Ballantyne, D. R.; Bauer, F. E.; Boggs, S. E.; Brandt, W. N.; Zhang, William W.

2016-01-01

Aims. We study the connection between the masing disk and obscuring torus in Seyfert 2 galaxies. Methods. We present a uniform X-ray spectral analysis of the high energy properties of 14 nearby megamaser active galactic nuclei observed by NuSTAR. We use a simple analytical model to localize the maser disk and understand its connection with the torus by combining NuSTAR spectral parameters with the available physical quantities from VLBI mapping.Results. Most of the sources that we analyzed are heavily obscured, showing a column density in excess of approx.10(exp 23) cm(exp -2); in particular, 79% are Compton-thick [NH is greater than 1.5 x 10(exp 24) cm(exp -2)]. When using column densities measured by NuSTAR with the assumption that the torus is the extension of the maser disk, and further assuming a reasonable density profile, we can predict the torus dimensions. They are found to be consistent with mid-IR interferometry parsec-scale observations of Circinus and NGC 1068. In this picture, the maser disk is intimately connected to the inner part of the torus. It is probably made of a large number of molecular clouds that connect the torus and the outer part of the accretion disk, giving rise to a thin disk rotating in most cases in Keplerian or sub-Keplerian motion. This toy model explains the established close connection between water megamaser emission and nuclear obscuration as a geometric effect.

Numerical simulation of fluid flow and heat transfer in a thin liquid film over a stationary and rotating disk and comparison with experimental data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Faghri, Amir; Swanson, Theodore D.

1990-01-01

In the first section, improvements in the theoretical model and computational procedure for the prediction of film height and heat-transfer coefficient of the free surface flow of a radially-spreading thin liquid film adjacent to a flat horizontal surface of finite extent are presented. Flows in the presence and absence of gravity are considered. Theoretical results are compared to available experimental data with good agreement. In the presence of gravity, a hydraulic jump is present, isolating the flow into two regimes: supercritical upstream from the jump and subcritical downstream of it. In this situation, the effects of surface tension are important near the outer edge of the disk where the fluid experiences a free fall. A region of flow separation is present just downstream of the jump. In the absence of gravity, no hydraulic jump or separated flow region is present. The variation of the heat-transfer coefficient for flows in the presence and absence of gravity are also presented. In the second section, the results of a numerical simulation of the flow field and associated heat transfer coefficients are presented for the free surface flow of a thin liquid film adjacent to a horizontal rotating disk. The computation was performed for different flow rates and rotational velocities using a 3-D boundary-fitted coordinate system. Since the geometry of the free surface is unknown and dependent on flow rate, rate of rotation, and other parameters, an iterative procedure had to be used to ascertain its location. The computed film height agreed well with existing experimental measurements. The flow is found to be dominated by inertia near the entrance and close to the free surface and dominated by centrifugal force at larger radii and adjacent to the disk. The rotation enhances the heat transfer coefficient by a significant amount.

An Incipient Debris Disk in the Chamaeleon I Cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espaillat, C. C.; Ribas, Á.; McClure, M. K.; Hernández, J.; Owen, J. E.; Avish, N.; Calvet, N.; Franco-Hernández, R.

2017-07-01

The point at which a protoplanetary disk becomes a debris disk is difficult to identify. To better understand this, here we study the ˜40 au separation binary T 54 in the Chamaeleon I cloud. We derive a K5 spectral type for T 54 A (which dominates the emission of the system) and an age of ˜2 Myr. However, the dust disk properties of T 54 are consistent with those of debris disks seen around older- and earlier-type stars. At the same time, T 54 has evidence of gas remaining in the disk, as indicated by [Ne II], [Ne III], and [O I] line detections. We model the spectral energy distribution of T 54 and estimate that ˜ 3× {10}-3 {M}\\oplus of small dust grains (<0.25 μm) are present in an optically thin circumbinary disk along with at least ˜ 3× {10}-7 {M}\\oplus of larger (>10 μm) grains within a circumprimary disk. Assuming a solar-like mixture, we use Ne line luminosities to place a minimum limit on the gas mass of the disk (˜ 3× {10}-4 {M}\\oplus ) and derive a gas-to-dust mass ratio of ˜0.1. We do not detect substantial accretion, but we do see Hα in emission in one epoch, which is suggestive that there may be intermittent dumping of small amounts of matter onto the star. Considering the low dust mass, the presence of gas, and young age of T 54, we conclude that this system is on the bridge between the protoplanetary and debris disk stages.

Variations on Debris Disks. IV. An Improved Analytical Model for Collisional Cascades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenyon, Scott J.; Bromley, Benjamin C.

2017-04-01

We derive a new analytical model for the evolution of a collisional cascade in a thin annulus around a single central star. In this model, r max the size of the largest object changes with time, {r}\\max \\propto {t}-γ , with γ ≈ 0.1-0.2. Compared to standard models where r max is constant in time, this evolution results in a more rapid decline of M d , the total mass of solids in the annulus, and L d , the luminosity of small particles in the annulus: {M}d\\propto {t}-(γ +1) and {L}d\\propto {t}-(γ /2+1). We demonstrate that the analytical model provides an excellent match to a comprehensive suite of numerical coagulation simulations for annuli at 1 au and at 25 au. If the evolution of real debris disks follows the predictions of the analytical or numerical models, the observed luminosities for evolved stars require up to a factor of two more mass than predicted by previous analytical models.

Computer Modeling of Thin Film Growth.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

buried and inactive, the data can be transferred to disk storage, there- - by conserving internal memory. As for the accuracy of the results, two...and mobility of the incident particles. L’~laos if led 𔄁FCUR,!Y CLASSIFICATOn4 o: Twicz Paq * .* .. ; :* .. * :-.7 jX~M~ L~ N~*~ ~2J ~ NJtA!Z~ ~ -- x L .p. 646 p. - p...’ /1

A NEW ELECTRON-DENSITY MODEL FOR ESTIMATION OF PULSAR AND FRB DISTANCES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yao, J. M.; Wang, N.; Manchester, R. N.

2017-01-20

We present a new model for the distribution of free electrons in the Galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, and the intergalactic medium (IGM) that can be used to estimate distances to real or simulated pulsars and fast radio bursts (FRBs) based on their dispersion measure (DM). The Galactic model has an extended thick disk representing the so-called warm interstellar medium, a thin disk representing the Galactic molecular ring, spiral arms based on a recent fit to Galactic H ii regions, a Galactic Center disk, and seven local features including the Gum Nebula, Galactic Loop I, and the Local Bubble. An offsetmore » of the Sun from the Galactic plane and a warp of the outer Galactic disk are included in the model. Parameters of the Galactic model are determined by fitting to 189 pulsars with independently determined distances and DMs. Simple models are used for the Magellanic Clouds and the IGM. Galactic model distances are within the uncertainty range for 86 of the 189 independently determined distances and within 20% of the nearest limit for a further 38 pulsars. We estimate that 95% of predicted Galactic pulsar distances will have a relative error of less than a factor of 0.9. The predictions of YMW16 are compared to those of the TC93 and NE2001 models showing that YMW16 performs significantly better on all measures. Timescales for pulse broadening due to interstellar scattering are estimated for (real or simulated) Galactic and Magellanic Cloud pulsars and FRBs.« less

The Dynamics of a Viscous Gas Ring around a Kerr Black Hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riffert, H.

2000-01-01

The dynamics of a rotationally symmetric viscous gas ring around a Kerr black hole is calculated in the thin-disk approximation. An evolution equation for the surface density Σ(t,r) is derived, which is the relativistic extension of a classical equation obtained by R. Lüst. A singular point appears at the radius of the last stable circular orbit r=rc. The nature of this point is investigated, and it turns out that the solution is always bounded at rc, and no boundary condition can be obtained at this radius. A unique solution of an initial value problem requires a matching condition at rc which follows from the flow structure between rc and the horizon. In the model presented here, the density in this domain is zero, and the resulting boundary condition leads to a vanishing shear stress at r=rc, which is the condition used in the standard stationary thin-disk model of Novikov & Thorne. Numerical solutions of the evolution equation are presented for two different angular momenta of the black hole. The time evolution of the resulting accretion rate depends strongly on this angular momentum.

Dynamics of binary-disk interaction. 1: Resonances and disk gap sizes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Artymowicz, Pawel; Lubow, Stephen H.

1994-01-01

We investigate the gravitational interaction of a generally eccentric binary star system with circumbinary and circumstellar gaseous disks. The disks are assumed to be coplanar with the binary, geometrically thin, and primarily governed by gas pressure and (turbulent) viscosity but not self-gravity. Both ordinary and eccentric Lindblad resonances are primarily responsible for truncating the disks in binaries with arbitrary eccentricity and nonextreme mass ratio. Starting from a smooth disk configuration, after the gravitational field of the binary truncates the disk on the dynamical timescale, a quasi-equilibrium is achieved, in which the resonant and viscous torques balance each other and any changes in the structure of the disk (e.g., due to global viscous evolution) occur slowly, preserving the average size of the gap. We analytically compute the approximate sizes of disks (or disk gaps) as a function of binary mass ratio and eccentricity in this quasi-equilibrium. Comparing the gap sizes with results of direct simulations using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), we obtain a good agreement. As a by-product of the computations, we verify that standard SPH codes can adequately represent the dynamics of disks with moderate viscosity, Reynolds number R approximately 10(exp 3). For typical viscous disk parameters, and with a denoting the binary semimajor axis, the inner edge location of a circumbinary disk varies from 1.8a to 2.6a with binary eccentricity increasing from 0 to 0.25. For eccentricities 0 less than e less than 0.75, the minimum separation between a component star and the circumbinary disk inner edge is greater than a. Our calculations are relevant, among others, to protobinary stars and the recently discovered T Tau pre-main-sequence binaries. We briefly examine the case of a pre-main-sequence spectroscopic binary GW Ori and conclude that circumbinary disk truncation to the size required by one proposed spectroscopic model cannot be due to Linblad resonances, even if the disk is nonviscous.

Dynamics of acoustically levitated disk samples.

PubMed

Xie, W J; Wei, B

2004-10-01

The acoustic levitation force on disk samples and the dynamics of large water drops in a planar standing wave are studied by solving the acoustic scattering problem through incorporating the boundary element method. The dependence of levitation force amplitude on the equivalent radius R of disks deviates seriously from the R3 law predicted by King's theory, and a larger force can be obtained for thin disks. When the disk aspect ratio gamma is larger than a critical value gamma(*) ( approximately 1.9 ) and the disk radius a is smaller than the critical value a(*) (gamma) , the levitation force per unit volume of the sample will increase with the enlargement of the disk. The acoustic levitation force on thin-disk samples ( gamma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carrasco-González, Carlos; Rodríguez, Luis F.; Galván-Madrid, Roberto

The first long-baseline ALMA campaign resolved the disk around the young star HL Tau into a number of axisymmetric bright and dark rings. Despite the very young age of HL Tau, these structures have been interpreted as signatures for the presence of (proto)planets. The ALMA images triggered numerous theoretical studies based on disk–planet interactions, magnetically driven disk structures, and grain evolution. Of special interest are the inner parts of disks, where terrestrial planets are expected to form. However, the emission from these regions in HL Tau turned out to be optically thick at all ALMA wavelengths, preventing the derivation of surfacemore » density profiles and grain-size distributions. Here, we present the most sensitive images of HL Tau obtained to date with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at 7.0 mm wavelength with a spatial resolution comparable to the ALMA images. At this long wavelength, the dust emission from HL Tau is optically thin, allowing a comprehensive study of the inner disk. We obtain a total disk dust mass of (1–3) × 10{sup −3} M {sub ⊙}, depending on the assumed opacity and disk temperature. Our optically thin data also indicate fast grain growth, fragmentation, and formation of dense clumps in the inner densest parts of the disk. Our results suggest that the HL Tau disk may be actually in a very early stage of planetary formation, with planets not already formed in the gaps but in the process of future formation in the bright rings.« less

Dynamics of acoustically levitated disk samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, W. J.; Wei, B.

2004-10-01

The acoustic levitation force on disk samples and the dynamics of large water drops in a planar standing wave are studied by solving the acoustic scattering problem through incorporating the boundary element method. The dependence of levitation force amplitude on the equivalent radius R of disks deviates seriously from the R3 law predicted by King’s theory, and a larger force can be obtained for thin disks. When the disk aspect ratio γ is larger than a critical value γ*(≈1.9) and the disk radius a is smaller than the critical value a*(γ) , the levitation force per unit volume of the sample will increase with the enlargement of the disk. The acoustic levitation force on thin-disk samples (γ⩽γ*) can be formulated by the shape factor f(γ,a) when a⩽a*(γ) . It is found experimentally that a necessary condition of the acoustic field for stable levitation of a large water drop is to adjust the reflector-emitter interval H slightly above the resonant interval Hn . The simulation shows that the drop is flattened and the central parts of its top and bottom surface become concave with the increase of sound pressure level, which agrees with the experimental observation. The main frequencies of the shape oscillation under different sound pressures are slightly larger than the Rayleigh frequency because of the large shape deformation. The simulated translational frequencies of the vertical vibration under normal gravity condition agree with the theoretical analysis.

The kinematics of the molecular gas in Centaurus A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quillen, A. C.; De Zeeuw, P. T.; Phinney, E. S.; Phillips, T. G.

1992-01-01

The CO (2-1) emission along the inner dust lane of Centaurus A, observed with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory on Mauna Kea, shows the molecular gas to be in a thin disk, with a velocity dispersion of only about 10 km/s. The observed line profiles are broadened considerably due to beam smearing of the gas velocity field. The profile shapes are inconsistent with planar circular and noncircular motion. However, a warped disk in a prolate potential provides a good fit to the profile shapes. The morphology and kinematics of the molecular gas is similar to that of the ionized material, seen in H-alpha. The best-fitting warped disk model not only matches the optical appearance of the dust lane but also agrees with the large-scale map of the CO emission and is consistent with H I measurements at larger radii.

Hydrodynamical Aspects of the Formation of Spiral-Vortical Structures in Rotating Gaseous Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elizarova, T. G.; Zlotnik, A. A.; Istomina, M. A.

2018-01-01

This paper is dedicated to numerical simulations of spiral-vortical structures in rotating gaseous disks using a simple model based on two-dimensional, non-stationary, barotropic Euler equations with a body force. The results suggest the possibility of a purely hydrodynamical basis for the formation and evolution of such structures. New, axially symmetric, stationary solutions of these equations are derived that modify known approximate solutions. These solutions with added small perturbations are used as initial data in the non-stationary problem, whose solution demonstrates the formation of density arms with bifurcation. The associated redistribution of angular momentum is analyzed. The correctness of laboratory experiments using shallow water to describe the formation of large-scale vortical structures in thin gaseous disks is confirmed. The computations are based on a special quasi-gas-dynamical regularization of the Euler equations in polar coordinates.

The 3 micron spectrum of the classical Be star Beta Monocerotis A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sellgren, K.; Smith, R. G.

1992-01-01

A 3.1-3.7-micron spectrum of the classical Be star Beta Mon A is presented at a resolution of lambda/Delta-lambda of 700-800. The spectrum shows strong hydrogen recombination lines, including Pf-delta and a series of Humphreys lines from Hu 19 to Hu 28. The relative recombination line strengths suggest that Pf-delta has a large optical depth. The Humphreys lines have relative strengths consistent with case B and may be optically thin. The line widths observed are broader than the Balmer lines and similar in width to Fe II lines, consistent with a disk model in which optically thinner lines arise primarily from a faster rotating inner disk, while optically thicker lines come mainly from a slower rotating outer disk. The apparent lack of Stark broadening of the Humphreys lines is used to place an upper limit on the circumstellar electron density of about 10 exp 12/cu cm.

Reverberation Mapping of AGN Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fausnaugh, Michael; AGN STORM Collaboration

2017-01-01

I will discuss new reverberation mapping results that allow us to investigate the temperature structure of AGN accretion disks. By measuring time-delays between broad-band continuum light curves, we can determine the size of the disk as a function of wavelength. I will discuss the detection of continuum lags in NGC 5548 reported by the AGN STORM project and implications for the accretion disk. I will also present evidence for continuum lags in two other AGN for which we recently measured black hole masses from continuum-Hbeta reverberations. The mass measurements allow us to compare the continuum lags to predictions from standard thin disk theory, and our results indicate that the accretion disks are larger than the simplest expectations.

Stress Measurement by Geometrical Optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, R. S.; Rossnagel, S. M.

1986-01-01

Fast, simple technique measures stresses in thin films. Sample disk bowed by stress into approximately spherical shape. Reflected image of disk magnified by amount related to curvature and, therefore, stress. Method requires sample substrate, such as cheap microscope cover slide, two mirrors, laser light beam, and screen.

DUST AND GAS IN THE DISK OF HL TAURI: SURFACE DENSITY, DUST SETTLING, AND DUST-TO-GAS RATIO

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pinte, C.; Ménard, F.; Dent, W. R. F.

The recent ALMA observations of the disk surrounding HL Tau reveal a very complex dust spatial distribution. We present a radiative transfer model accounting for the observed gaps and bright rings as well as radial changes of the emissivity index. We find that the dust density is depleted by at least a factor of 10 in the main gaps compared to the surrounding rings. Ring masses range from 10–100 M{sub ⊕} in dust, and we find that each of the deepest gaps is consistent with the removal of up to 40 M{sub ⊕} of dust. If this material has accumulatedmore » into rocky bodies, these would be close to the point of runaway gas accretion. Our model indicates that the outermost ring is depleted in millimeter grains compared to the central rings. This suggests faster grain growth in the central regions and/or radial migration of the larger grains. The morphology of the gaps observed by ALMA—well separated and showing a high degree of contrast with the bright rings over all azimuths—indicates that the millimeter dust disk is geometrically thin (scale height ≈1 AU at 100 AU) and that a large amount of settling of large grains has already occurred. Assuming a standard dust settling model, we find that the observations are consistent with a turbulent viscosity coefficient of a few 10{sup −4}. We estimate the gas/dust ratio in this thin layer to be of the order of 5 if the initial ratio is 100. The HCO{sup +} and CO emission is consistent with gas in Keplerian motion around a 1.7 M{sub ⊙} star at radii from ≤10–120 AU.« less

Electromagnetic wave scattering from some vegetation samples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karam, Mostafa A.; Fung, Adrian K.; Antar, Yahia M.

1988-01-01

For an incident plane wave, the field inside a thin scatterer (disk and needle) is estimated by the generalized Rayleigh-Gans (GRG) approximation. This leads to a scattering amplitude tensor equal to that obtained via the Rayleigh approximation (dipole term) with a modifying function. For a finite-length cylinder the inner field is estimated by the corresponding field for the same cylinder of infinite lenght. The effects of different approaches in estimating the field inside the scatterer on the backscattering cross section are illustrated numerically for a circular disk, a needle, and a finite-length cylinder as a function of the wave number and the incidence angle. Finally, the modeling predictions are compared with measurements.

THE MEGAMASER COSMOLOGY PROJECT. VIII. A GEOMETRIC DISTANCE TO NGC 5765b

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gao, F.; Zhao, W.; Braatz, J. A.

As part of the Megamaser Cosmology Project, here we present a new geometric distance measurement to the megamaser galaxy NGC 5765b. Through a series of very long baseline interferometry observations, we have confirmed the water masers trace a thin, sub-parsec Keplerian disk around the nucleus, implying an enclosed mass of 4.55 ± 0.40 × 10{sup 7} M{sub ⊙}. Meanwhile, from single-dish monitoring of the maser spectra over two years, we measured the secular drifts of maser features near the systemic velocity of the galaxy with rates between 0.5 and 1.2 km s{sup −1} yr{sup −1}. Fitting a warped, thin-disk model to these measurements, wemore » determine a Hubble Constant H{sub 0} of 66.0 ± 6.0 km s{sup −1} Mpc{sup −1} with an angular-diameter distance to NGC 5765b of 126.3 ± 11.6 Mpc. Apart from the distance measurement, we also investigate some physical properties related to the maser disk in NGC 5765b. The high-velocity features are spatially distributed into several clumps, which may indicate the existence of a spiral density wave associated with the accretion disk. For the redshifted features, the envelope defined by the peak maser intensities increases with radius. The profile of the systemic masers in NGC 5765b is smooth and shows almost no structural changes over the two years of monitoring time, which differs from the more variable case of NGC 4258.« less

Reverberation Mapping of the Continuum Source in Active Galactic Nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fausnaugh, Michael Martin

I present results from a monitoring campaign of 11 active galactic nuclei (AGN) conducted in Spring of 2014. I use the reverberation mapping method to probe the interior structures of the AGN, specifically the broad line regions (BLRs) and accretion disks. One of these AGN, NGC 5548, was also subject to multi-wavelength (X-ray, UV, optical, and near-IR) monitoring using 25 ground-based telescopes and four space-based facilities. For NGC 5548, I detect lags between the continuum emission at different wavelengths that follow a trend consistent with the prediction for continuum reprocessing by an accretion disk with temperature profile T ∝ R -3/4. However, the lags imply a disk radius that is 3 times larger than the prediction from standard thin-disk models. The lags at wavelengths longer than the Vband are also equal to or greater than the lags of high-ionization-state emission lines (such as HeII lambda1640 and lambda4686), suggesting that the continuum-emitting source is of a physical size comparable to the inner broad-line region. Using optical spectra from the Large Binocular Telescope, I estimate the bias of the interband continuum lags due to BLR emission observed in the filters, and I find that the bias for filters with high levels of BLR contamination (˜20%) can be important for the shortest continuum lags. This likely has a significant impact on the u and U bands owing to Balmer continuum emission. I then develop a new procedure for the internal (night-to-night) calibration of time series spectra that can reach precisions of ˜1 millimagnitude and improves traditional techniques by up to a factor of 5. At this level, other systematic issues (e.g., the nightly sensitivity functions and Fe II contamination) limit the final precision of the observed light curves. Using the new calibration method, I next present the data and first results from the optical spectroscopic monitoring component of the reverberation mapping campaign. Five AGN were sufficiently variable to measure continuum-Hbeta lags and super-massive black hole masses: MCG+08-11-011, NGC 2617, NGC 4051, 3C 382, and Mrk 374. I also obtain Hgamma and HeII lags for all objects except 3C 382. The HeII lags indicate radial stratification of the BLR, and the masses derived from different emission lines are in general agreement. The relative responsivities of these lines to continuum variations are also in qualitative agreement with photoionization models. Finally, I measure optical continuum lags for the two most variable targets, MCG+08-11-011 and NGC 2617. I again find lags consistent with geometrically thin accretion-disk models that have temperature profiles T ∝ R-3/4. The observed lags are larger than predictions based on standard thin-disk theory by factors of 3.3 for MCG+08-11-011 and 2.3 for NGC 2617. Using a physical model, these differences can be explained if the mass accretion rates are larger than inferred from the optical continuum luminosity by a factor of 4.3 in MCG+08-11-011 and a factor of 1.3 in NGC 2617. While the X-ray variability in NGC 2617 precedes the UV/optical variability, the long 2.6 day lag is problematic for coronal reprocessing models.

Future Hard Disk Storage: Limits & Potential Solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lambeth, David N.

2000-03-01

For several years the hard disk drive technology pace has raced along at 60-100products this year and laboratory demonstrations approaching what has been estimated as a physical thermal stability limit of around 40 Gbit/in2. For sometime now the data storage industry has recogniz d that doing business as usually will not be viable for long and so both incremental evolutionary and revolutionary technologies are being explored. While new recording head materials or thermal recording techniques may allow higher coercivity materials to be recorded upon, and while high sensitivity spin transport transducer technology may provide sufficient signals to extend beyond the 100 Gigabit/in2 regime, conventional isotropic longitudinal media will show large data retention problems at less than 1/2 of this value. We have recently developed a simple model which indicates that while thermal instability issues may appear at different areal densities, they are non-discriminatory as to the magnetic recording modality: longitudinal, perpendicular, magnetooptic, near field, etc. The model indicates that a strong orientation of the media tends to abate the onset of the thermal limit. Hence, for the past few years we have taken an approach of controlled growth of the microstructure of thin film media. This knowledge has lead us to believe that epitaxial growth of multiple thin film layers on single crystalline Si may provide a pathway to nearly perfect crystallites of various, highly oriented, thin film textures. Here we provide an overview of the recording system media challenges, which are useful for the development of a future media design philosophy and then discuss materials issues and processing techniques for multi-layered thin film material structures which may be used to achieve media structures which can easy exceed the limits predicted for isotropic media.

Mapping H-band Scattered Light Emission in the Mysterious SR21Transitional Disk

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Follette, Katherine B.; Motohide, Tamura; Hashimoto, Jun; Whitney, Barbara; Grady, Carol; Close, Laird; Andrews, Sean M.; Kwon, Jungmi; Wisniewski, John; Brandt, Timothy D.;

DIRECT IMAGING OF THE WATER SNOW LINE AT THE TIME OF PLANET FORMATION USING TWO ALMA CONTINUUM BANDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Banzatti, A.; Pontoppidan, K. M.; Pinilla, P.

2015-12-10

Molecular snow lines in protoplanetary disks have been studied theoretically for decades because of their importance in shaping planetary architectures and compositions. The water snow line lies in the planet formation region at ≲10 AU, and so far its location has been estimated only indirectly from spatially unresolved spectroscopy. This work presents a proof-of-concept method to directly image the water snow line in protoplanetary disks through its physical and chemical imprint on the local dust properties. We adopt a physical disk model that includes dust coagulation, fragmentation, drift, and a change in fragmentation velocities of a factor of 10 betweenmore » dry silicates and icy grains as found by laboratory work. We find that the presence of a water snow line leads to a sharp discontinuity in the radial profile of the dust emission spectral index α{sub mm} due to replenishment of small grains through fragmentation. We use the ALMA simulator to demonstrate that this effect can be observed in protoplanetary disks using spatially resolved ALMA images in two continuum bands. We explore the model dependence on the disk viscosity and find that the spectral index reveals the water snow line for a wide range of conditions, with opposite trends when the emission is optically thin rather than thick. If the disk viscosity is low (α{sub visc} < 10{sup −3}), the snow line produces a ringlike structure with a minimum at α{sub mm} ∼ 2 in the optically thick regime, possibly similar to what has been measured with ALMA in the innermost region of the HL Tau disk.« less

Cooling Requirements for the Vertical Shear Instability in Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Min-Kai; Youdin, Andrew N.

2015-09-01

The vertical shear instability (VSI) offers a potential hydrodynamic mechanism for angular momentum transport in protoplanetary disks (PPDs). The VSI is driven by a weak vertical gradient in the disk’s orbital motion, but must overcome vertical buoyancy, a strongly stabilizing influence in cold disks, where heating is dominated by external irradiation. Rapid radiative cooling reduces the effective buoyancy and allows the VSI to operate. We quantify the cooling timescale tc needed for efficient VSI growth, through a linear analysis of the VSI with cooling in vertically global, radially local disk models. We find the VSI is most vigorous for rapid cooling with {t}{{c}}\\lt {{{Ω }}}{{K}}-1h| q| /(γ -1) in terms of the Keplerian orbital frequency, {{{Ω }}}{{K}}, the disk’s aspect-ratio, h\\ll 1, the radial power-law temperature gradient, q, and the adiabatic index, γ. For longer tc, the VSI is much less effective because growth slows and shifts to smaller length scales, which are more prone to viscous or turbulent decay. We apply our results to PPD models where tc is determined by the opacity of dust grains. We find that the VSI is most effective at intermediate radii, from ∼5 to ∼50 AU with a characteristic growth time of ∼30 local orbital periods. Growth is suppressed by long cooling times both in the opaque inner disk and the optically thin outer disk. Reducing the dust opacity by a factor of 10 increases cooling times enough to quench the VSI at all disk radii. Thus the formation of solid protoplanets, a sink for dust grains, can impede the VSI.

Numerical and experimental analysis of a thin liquid film on a rotating disk related to development of a spacecraft absorption cooling system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Faghri, Amir; Swanson, Theodore D.

1989-01-01

The numerical and experimental analysis of a thin liquid film on a rotating and a stationary disk related to the development of an absorber unit for a high capacity spacecraft absorption cooling system, is described. The creation of artificial gravity by the use of a centrifugal field was focused upon in this report. Areas covered include: (1) One-dimensional computation of thin liquid film flows; (2) Experimental measurement of film height and visualization of flow; (3) Two-dimensional computation of the free surface flow of a thin liquid film using a pressure optimization method; (4) Computation of heat transfer in two-dimensional thin film flow; (5) Development of a new computational methodology for the free surface flows using a permeable wall; (6) Analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in a thin film in the presence and absence of gravity; and (7) Comparison of theoretical prediction and experimental data. The basic phenomena related to fluid flow and heat transfer on rotating systems reported here can also be applied to other areas of space systems.

Extraplanar H II Regions in Spiral Galaxies. I. Low-metallicity Gas Accreting through the Disk-halo Interface of NGC 4013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howk, J. Christopher; Rueff, Katherine M.; Lehner, Nicolas; Wotta, Christopher B.; Croxall, Kevin; Savage, Blair D.

2018-04-01

The interstellar thick disks of galaxies serve as the interface between the thin star-forming disk, where feedback-driven outflows originate, and the distant halo, the repository for accreted gas. We present optical emission line spectroscopy of a luminous, thick disk H II region located at z = 860 pc above the plane of the spiral galaxy NGC 4013 taken with the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph on the Large Binocular Telescope. This nebula, with an Hα luminosity ∼4–7 times that of the Orion nebula, surrounds a luminous cluster of young, hot stars that ionize the surrounding interstellar gas of the thick disk, providing a measure of the properties of that gas. We demonstrate that strong emission line methods can provide accurate measures of relative abundances between pairs of H II regions. From our emission line spectroscopy, we show that the metal content of the thick disk H II region is a factor of ≈2 lower than gas in H II regions at the midplane of this galaxy (with the relative abundance of O in the thick disk lower by ‑0.32 ± 0.09 dex). This implies incomplete mixing of material in the thick disk on small scales (hundreds of parsecs) and that there is accretion of low-metallicity gas through the thick disks of spirals. The inclusion of low-metallicity gas this close to the plane of NGC 4013 is reminiscent of the recently proposed “fountain-driven” accretion models.

The Effects of Stellar Irradiation on Gravitational Instabilities in Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Kai; Durisen, R. H.; Zhu, Z.

2009-01-01

It has been suggested that giant protoplanets form in protoplanetary disks when the disks undergo rapid cooling and fragment into dense Jupiter-mass clumps under the disks' own self-gravity. Previous three-dimensional simulations of protoplanetary disks investigated the effects of envelope irradiation on the development of gravitational instabilities (GIs) in such disks. We found that the irradiation tends to suppress the nonlinear amplitude of GIs and no dense clumps form, arguing against direct formation of giant planets by disk instability in irradiated disks (Cai et al. 2008). In this work, by utilizing an improved radiative cooling scheme in the optically thin regions, we present some preliminary results from simulations with a variable irradiation temperature that mimics the effects of stellar irradiation. Comparisons with results from an envelope-irradiated disk suggest that stellar irradiation may be more effective in suppressing GIs than envelope irradiation.

The broad applicability of the disk laser principle: from CW to ps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Killi, Alexander; Stolzenburg, Christian; Zawischa, Ivo; Sutter, Dirk; Kleinbauer, Jochen; Schad, Sven; Brockmann, Rüdiger; Weiler, Sascha; Neuhaus, Jörg; Kalfhues, Steffen; Mehner, Eva; Bauer, Dominik; Schlueter, Holger; Schmitz, Christian

2009-02-01

The quasi two-dimensional geometry of the disk laser results in conceptional advantages over other geometries. Fundamentally, the thin disk laser allows true power scaling by increasing the pump spot diameter on the disk while keeping the power density constant. This scaling procedure keeps optical peak intensity, temperature, stress profile, and optical path differences in the disk nearly unchanged. The required pump beam brightness - a main cost driver of DPSSL systems - also remains constant. We present these fundamental concepts and present results in the wide range of multi kW-class CW-sources, high power Q-switched sources and ultrashort pulsed sources.

Contraction of an air disk caught between two different liquids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thoraval, M.-J.; Thoroddsen, S. T.

2013-12-01

When a drop impacts a pool of liquid it entraps a thin disk of air under its center. This disk contracts rapidly into a bubble to minimize surface energy. Herein we use ultra-high-speed imaging to measure the contraction speed of this disk when the drop and pool are of different liquids. For miscible liquids the contraction rate is governed by the weaker of the two surface tensions. Some undulations are observed on the edge of the disk for a water drop impacting a pool of water, but not on a pool of lower surface tension. Similar results are observed for a pair of immiscible liquids.

The structure of protostellar accretion disks and the origin of bipolar flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wardle, Mark; Koenigl, Arieh

1993-01-01

Equations are obtained which govern the disk-wind structure and identify the physical parameters relevant to circumstellar disks. The system of equations is analyzed in the thin-disk approximation, and it is shown that the system can be consistently reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations in z. Representative solutions are presented, and it is shown that the apparent paradox discussed by Shu (1991) is resolved when the finite thickness of the disk is taken into account. Implications of the results for the origin of bipolar flows in young stellar objects and possible application to active galactic nuclei are discussed.

The Last Gasp of Gas Giant Planet Formation: A Spitzer Study of the 5 Myr Old Cluster NGC 2362

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Currie, Thayne; Lada, Charles J.; Plavchan, Peter; Robitaille, Thomas P.; Irwin, Jonathan; Kenyon, Scott J.

2009-06-01

Expanding upon the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) survey from Dahm & Hillenbrand, we describe Spitzer IRAC and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer observations of the populous, 5 Myr old open cluster NGC 2362. We analyze the mid-IR colors of cluster members and compared their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to star+circumstellar disk models to constrain the disk morphologies and evolutionary states. Early/intermediate-type confirmed/candidate cluster members either have photospheric mid-IR emission or weak, optically thin IR excess emission at λ >= 24 μm consistent with debris disks. Few late-type, solar/subsolar-mass stars have primordial disks. The disk population around late-type stars is dominated by disks with inner holes (canonical "transition disks") and "homologously depleted" disks. Both types of disks represent an intermediate stage between primordial disks and debris disks. Thus, in agreement with previous results, we find that multiple paths for the primordial-to-debris disk transition exist. Because these "evolved primordial disks" greatly outnumber primordial disks, our results undermine standard arguments in favor of a lsim105 yr timescale for the transition based on data from Taurus-Auriga. Because the typical transition timescale is far longer than 105 yr, these data also appear to rule out standard ultraviolet photoevaporation scenarios as the primary mechanism to explain the transition. Combining our data with other Spitzer surveys, we investigate the evolution of debris disks around high/intermediate-mass stars and investigate timescales for giant planet formation. Consistent with Currie et al., the luminosity of 24 μm emission in debris disks due to planet formation peaks at ≈10-20 Myr. If the gas and dust in disks evolve on similar timescales, the formation timescale for gas giant planets surrounding early-type, high/intermediate-mass (gsim1.4 M sun) stars is likely 1-5 Myr. Most solar/subsolar-mass stars detected by Spitzer have SEDs that indicate their disks may be actively leaving the primordial disk phase. Thus, gas giant planet formation may also occur by ~5 Myr around solar/subsolar-mass stars as well.

RADIATION HYDRODYNAMICS MODELS OF THE INNER RIM IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Flock, M.; Turner, N. J.; Fromang, S.

2016-08-20

Many stars host planets orbiting within a few astronomical units (AU). The occurrence rate and distributions of masses and orbits vary greatly with the host star’s mass. These close planets’ origins are a mystery that motivates investigating protoplanetary disks’ central regions. A key factor governing the conditions near the star is the silicate sublimation front, which largely determines where the starlight is absorbed, and which is often called the inner rim. We present the first radiation hydrodynamical modeling of the sublimation front in the disks around the young intermediate-mass stars called Herbig Ae stars. The models are axisymmetric and includemore » starlight heating; silicate grains sublimating and condensing to equilibrium at the local, time-dependent temperature and density; and accretion stresses parameterizing the results of MHD magnetorotational turbulence models. The results compare well with radiation hydrostatic solutions and prove to be dynamically stable. Passing the model disks into Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations, we show that the models satisfy observational constraints on the inner rim’s location. A small optically thin halo of hot dust naturally arises between the inner rim and the star. The inner rim has a substantial radial extent, corresponding to several disk scale heights. While the front’s overall position varies with the stellar luminosity, its radial extent depends on the mass accretion rate. A pressure maximum develops near the location of thermal ionization at temperatures of about 1000 K. The pressure maximum is capable of halting solid pebbles’ radial drift and concentrating them in a zone where temperatures are sufficiently high for annealing to form crystalline silicates.« less

The Thermal Regulation of Gravitational Instabilities in Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pickett, Brian K.; Mejía, Annie C.; Durisen, Richard H.; Cassen, Patrick M.; Berry, Donald K.; Link, Robert P.

2003-06-01

We present a series of high-resolution, three-dimensional hydrodynamics simulations of a gravitationally unstable solar nebula model. The influences of both azimuthal grid resolution and the treatment of thermal processes on the origin and evolution of gravitational instabilities are investigated. In the first set of simulations, we vary the azimuthal resolution for a locally isothermal simulation, doubling and quadrupling the resolution used in a previous study; the largest number of grid points is (256,256,64) in cylindrical coordinates (r,ϕ,z). At this resolution, the disk breaks apart into a dozen short-lived condensations. Although our previous calculations underresolved the number and growth rate of clumps in the disk, the overall qualitative, but fundamental, conclusion remains: fragmentation under the locally isothermal condition in numerical simulations does not in itself lead to the survival of clumps to become gaseous giant protoplanets. Since local isothermality represents an extreme assumption about thermal processes in the disk, we also present several extended simulations in which heating from an artificial viscosity scheme and cooling from a simple volumetric cooling function are applied to two different models of the solar nebula. The models are differentiated primarily by disk temperature: a high-Q model generated directly by our self-consistent field equilibrium code and a low-Q model generated by cooling the high-Q model in a two-dimensional version of our hydrodynamics code. Here, ``high-Q'' and ``low-Q'' refer to the minimum values of the Toomre stability parameter Q in each disk, Qmin=1.8 and 0.9, respectively. Previous simulations, by ourselves as well as others, have focused on initial states that are already gravitationally unstable, i.e., models similar to the low-Q model. This paper presents for the first time the numerical evolution of an essentially stable initial equilibrium state (the high-Q model) to a severely unstable one by cooling. The additional heating and cooling are applied to each model over the outer half of the disk or the entire disk. The models are subject to the rapid growth of a four-armed spiral instability; the subsequent evolution of the models depends on the thermal behavior of the disk. The cooling function tends to overwhelm the heating included in our artificial viscosity prescription, and as a result the spiral structure strengthens. The spiral disturbances transport mass at prodigious rates during the early nonlinear stages of development and significantly alter the disk's vertical surface. Although dense condensations of material can appear, their character depends on the extent of the volumetric cooling in the disk. In the simulation of the high-Q model with heating and cooling applied throughout the disk, thin, dense rings form at radii ranging from 1 to 3 AU and steadily increase in mass; later companion formation may occur in these rings as cooling drives them toward instability. When heating and cooling are applied only over the outer radial half of the disk, however, a succession of single condensations appears near 5 AU. Each clump has roughly the mass of Saturn, and some survive a complete orbit. Since the clumps form near the artificial boundary in the treatment of the disk gas physics, the production of a clump in this case is a numerical artifact. Nevertheless, radially abrupt transitions in disk gas characteristics, for example, in opacity, might mimic the artificial boundary effects in our simulations and favor the production of stable companions in actual protostellar and protoplanetary disks. The ultimate survival of condensations as eventual stellar or substellar companions to the central star is still largely an open question.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cieza, Lucas A.; Mathews, Geoffrey S.; Kraus, Adam L.

We present deep Sparse Aperture Masking (SAM) observations obtained with the ESO Very Large Telescope of the pre-transitional disk object FL Cha (SpT = K8, d = 160 pc), the disk of which is known to have a wide optically thin gap separating optically thick inner and outer disk components. We find non-zero closure phases, indicating a significant flux asymmetry in the K{sub S} -band emission (e.g., a departure from a single point source detection). We also present radiative transfer modeling of the spectral energy distribution of the FL Cha system and find that the gap extends from 0.06{sup +0.05}{submore » -0.01} AU to 8.3 {+-} 1.3 AU. We demonstrate that the non-zero closure phases can be explained almost equally well by starlight scattered off the inner edge of the outer disk or by a (sub)stellar companion. Single-epoch, single-wavelength SAM observations of transitional disks with large cavities that could become resolved should thus be interpreted with caution, taking the disk and its properties into consideration. In the context of a binary model, the signal is most consistent with a high-contrast ({Delta}K{sub S} {approx} 4.8 mag) source at a {approx}40 mas (6 AU) projected separation. However, the flux ratio and separation parameters remain highly degenerate and a much brighter source ({Delta}K{sub S} {approx} 1 mag) at 15 mas (2.4 AU) can also reproduce the signal. Second-epoch, multi-wavelength observations are needed to establish the nature of the SAM detection in FL Cha.« less

Accretion Disk Reverberation with Hubble Space Telescope Observations of NGC 4593: Evidence for Diffuse Continuum Lags

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cackett, Edward M.; Chiang, Chia-Ying; McHardy, Ian; Edelson, Rick; Goad, Michael R.; Horne, Keith; Korista, Kirk T.

2018-04-01

The Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4593 was monitored spectroscopically with the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a reverberation mapping campaign that also included Swift, Kepler, and ground-based photometric monitoring. During 2016 July 12–August 6, we obtained 26 spectra across a nearly continuous wavelength range of ∼1150–10000 Å. These were combined with Swift data to produce a UV/optical “lag spectrum,” which shows the interband lag relative to the Swift UVW2 band as a function of wavelength. The broad shape of the lag spectrum appears to follow the τ ∝ λ 4/3 relation seen previously in photometric interband lag measurements of other active galactic nuclei (AGNs). This shape is consistent with the standard thin disk model, but the magnitude of the lags implies a disk that is a factor of ∼3 larger than predicted, again consistent with what has been previously seen in other AGNs. In all cases these large disk sizes, which are also implied by independent gravitational microlensing of higher-mass AGNs, cannot be simply reconciled with the standard model. However, the most striking feature in this higher-resolution lag spectrum is a clear excess around the 3646 Å Balmer jump. This strongly suggests that diffuse emission from gas in the much larger broad-line region (BLR) must also contribute significantly to the interband lags. While the relative contributions of the disk and BLR cannot be uniquely determined in these initial measurements, it is clear that both will need to be considered to comprehensively model and understand AGN lag spectra.

Investigating Disk-halo Flows and Accretion: A Kinematic and Morphological Analysis of Extraplanar H I in NGC 3044 and NGC 4302

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zschaechner, Laura K.; Rand, Richard J.; Walterbos, Rene

2015-01-01

To further understand the origins of and physical processes operating in extra-planar gas, we present observations and kinematic models of H I in the two nearby, edge-on spiral galaxies NGC 3044 and NGC 4302. We model NGC 3044 as a single, thick disk. Substantial amounts of extra-planar H I are also detected. We detect a decrease in rotation speed with height (a lag) that shallows radially, reaching zero at approximately R 25. The large-scale kinematic asymmetry of the approaching and receding halves suggests a recent disturbance. The kinematics and morphology of NGC 4302, a Virgo Cluster member, are greatly disturbed. We model NGC 4302 as a combination of a thin disk and a second, thicker disk, the latter having a hole near the center. We detect lagging extra-planar gas, with indications of shallowing in the receding half, although its characteristics are difficult to constrain. A bridge is detected between NGC 4302 and its companion, NGC 4298. We explore trends involving the extra-planar H I kinematics of these galaxies, as well as galaxies throughout the literature, as well as possible connections between lag properties with star formation and environment. Measured lags are found to be significantly steeper than those modeled by purely ballistic effects, indicating additional factors. Radial shallowing of extra-planar lags is typical and occurs between 0.5R 25 and R 25, suggesting internal processes are important in dictating extra-planar kinematics.

kW picosecond thin-disk regenerative amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, Knut; Wandt, Christoph; Klingebiel, Sandro; Schultze, Marcel; Prinz, Stephan; Teisset, Catherine Y.; Stark, Sebastian; Grebing, Christian; Bessing, Robert; Herzig, Tobias; Häfner, Matthias; Budnicki, Aleksander; Sutter, Dirk; Metzger, Thomas

2018-02-01

TRUMPF Scientific Lasers provides ultrafast laser sources for the scientific community with high pulse energies and high average power. All systems are based on the industrialized TRUMPF thin-disk technology. Regenerative amplifiers systems with multi-millijoule pulses, kilohertz repetition rates and picosecond pulse durations are available. Record values of 220mJ at 1kHz could be demonstrated originally developed for pumping optical parametric amplifiers. The ultimate goal is to combine high energies, <100mJ per pulse, with average powers of several hundred watts to a kilowatt. Based on a regenerative amplifier containing two Ytterbium doped thin-disks operated at ambient temperature pulses with picosecond duration and more than 100mJ could be generated at a repetition rate of 10kHz reaching 1kW of average output power. This system is designed to operate at different repetition rates from 100kHz down to 5kHz so that even higher pulse energies can be reached. This type of ultrafast sources uncover new application fields in science. Laser based lightning rods, X-ray lasers and Compton backscatter sources are among them.

TESTING THE PROPAGATING FLUCTUATIONS MODEL WITH A LONG, GLOBAL ACCRETION DISK SIMULATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hogg, J Drew; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2016-07-20

The broadband variability of many accreting systems displays characteristic structures; log-normal flux distributions, root-mean square (rms)-flux relations, and long inter-band lags. These characteristics are usually interpreted as inward propagating fluctuations of the mass accretion rate in an accretion disk driven by stochasticity of the angular momentum transport mechanism. We present the first analysis of propagating fluctuations in a long-duration, high-resolution, global three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of a geometrically thin ( h / r ≈ 0.1) accretion disk around a black hole. While the dynamical-timescale turbulent fluctuations in the Maxwell stresses are too rapid to drive radially coherent fluctuations in themore » accretion rate, we find that the low-frequency quasi-periodic dynamo action introduces low-frequency fluctuations in the Maxwell stresses, which then drive the propagating fluctuations. Examining both the mass accretion rate and emission proxies, we recover log-normality, linear rms-flux relations, and radial coherence that would produce inter-band lags. Hence, we successfully relate and connect the phenomenology of propagating fluctuations to modern MHD accretion disk theory.« less

Reconfigurable superconducting vortex pinning potential for magnetic disks in hybrid structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchiori, Estefani; Curran, Peter J.; Kim, Jangyong; Satchell, Nathan; Burnell, Gavin; Bending, Simon J.

2017-03-01

High resolution scanning Hall probe microscopy has been used to directly visualise the superconducting vortex behavior in hybrid structures consisting of a square array of micrometer-sized Py ferromagnetic disks covered by a superconducting Nb thin film. At remanence the disks exist in almost fully flux-closed magnetic vortex states, but the observed cloverleaf-like stray fields indicate the presence of weak in-plane anisotropy. Micromagnetic simulations suggest that the most likely origin is an unintentional shape anisotropy. We have studied the pinning of added free superconducting vortices as a function of the magnetisation state of the disks, and identified a range of different phenomena arising from competing energy contributions. We have also observed clear differences in the pinning landscape when the superconductor and the ferromagnet are electron ically coupled or insulated by a thin dielectric layer, with an indication of non-trivial vortex-vortex interactions. We demonstrate a complete reconfiguration of the vortex pinning potential when the magnetisation of the disks evolves from the vortex-like state to an onion-like one under an in-plane magnetic field. Our results are in good qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions and could form the basis of novel superconducting devices based on reconfigurable vortex pinning sites.

Reconfigurable superconducting vortex pinning potential for magnetic disks in hybrid structures.

PubMed

Marchiori, Estefani; Curran, Peter J; Kim, Jangyong; Satchell, Nathan; Burnell, Gavin; Bending, Simon J

2017-03-24

High resolution scanning Hall probe microscopy has been used to directly visualise the superconducting vortex behavior in hybrid structures consisting of a square array of micrometer-sized Py ferromagnetic disks covered by a superconducting Nb thin film. At remanence the disks exist in almost fully flux-closed magnetic vortex states, but the observed cloverleaf-like stray fields indicate the presence of weak in-plane anisotropy. Micromagnetic simulations suggest that the most likely origin is an unintentional shape anisotropy. We have studied the pinning of added free superconducting vortices as a function of the magnetisation state of the disks, and identified a range of different phenomena arising from competing energy contributions. We have also observed clear differences in the pinning landscape when the superconductor and the ferromagnet are electron ically coupled or insulated by a thin dielectric layer, with an indication of non-trivial vortex-vortex interactions. We demonstrate a complete reconfiguration of the vortex pinning potential when the magnetisation of the disks evolves from the vortex-like state to an onion-like one under an in-plane magnetic field. Our results are in good qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions and could form the basis of novel superconducting devices based on reconfigurable vortex pinning sites.

GalMod: the last frontier of Galaxy population synthesis models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasetto, Stefano; Kollmeier, Juna; Grebel, Eva K.; chiosi, cesare

2018-01-01

We present a novel Galaxy population synthesis model: GalMod (Pasetto et al. 2016, 2017a,b) is the only star-count model featuring an asymmetric bar/bulge as well as spiral arms as directly obtained by applying linear perturbative theory to self-consistent distribution function of the Galaxy stellar populations. Compared to previous literature models (e.g., Besancon, Trilegal), GalMod allows to generate full-sky mock catalogue, M31 surveys and provides a better match to observed Milky Way (MW) stellar fields.The model can generate synthetic mock catalogs of visible portions of the MW, external galaxies like M31, or N-body simulation initial conditions. At any given time, e.g., a chosen age of the Galaxy, the model contains a sum of discrete stellar populations, namely bulge/bar, disk, halo. The disk population is itself the sum of subpopulations: spiral arms, thin disk, thick disk, and gas component, while the halo is modeled as the sum of a stellar component, a hot coronal gas, and a dark matter component. The Galactic potential is computed from these subpopulations' density profiles and used to generate detailed kinematics by considering the first few moments of the Boltzmann collisionless equation for all the stellar subpopulations. The same density profiles are then used to define the observed color-magnitude diagrams within an input field of view from an arbitrary solar location. Several photometric systems have been included and made available on-line, e.g., SDSS, Gaia, 2MASS, HST WFC3, and others. Finally, we model the extinction with advanced ray tracing solutions.The model's web page (and tutorial) can be accessed at www.GalMod.org.

Constraining the physical structure of the inner few 100 AU scales of deeply embedded low-mass protostars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Persson, M. V.; Harsono, D.; Tobin, J. J.; van Dishoeck, E. F.; Jørgensen, J. K.; Murillo, N.; Lai, S.-P.

2016-05-01

Context. The physical structure of deeply embedded low-mass protostars (Class 0) on scales of less than 300 AU is still poorly constrained. While molecular line observations demonstrate the presence of disks with Keplerian rotation toward a handful of sources, others show no hint of rotation. Determining the structure on small scales (a few 100 AU) is crucial for understanding the physical and chemical evolution from cores to disks. Aims: We determine the presence and characteristics of compact, disk-like structures in deeply embedded low-mass protostars. A related goal is investigating how the derived structure affects the determination of gas-phase molecular abundances on hot-core scales. Methods: Two models of the emission, a Gaussian disk intensity distribution and a parametrized power-law disk model, are fitted to subarcsecond resolution interferometric continuum observations of five Class 0 sources, including one source with a confirmed Keplerian disk. Prior to fitting the models to the de-projected real visibilities, the estimated envelope from an independent model and any companion sources are subtracted. For reference, a spherically symmetric single power-law envelope is fitted to the larger scale emission (~1000 AU) and investigated further for one of the sources on smaller scales. Results: The radii of the fitted disk-like structures range from ~90-170 AU, and the derived masses depend on the method. Using the Gaussian disk model results in masses of 54-556 × 10-3 M⊙, and using the power-law disk model gives 9-140 × 10-3 M⊙. While the disk radii agree with previous estimates the masses are different for some of the sources studied. Assuming a typical temperature distribution (r-0.5), the fractional amount of mass in the disk above 100 K varies from 7% to 30%. Conclusions: A thin disk model can approximate the emission and physical structure in the inner few 100 AU scales of the studied deeply embedded low-mass protostars and paves the way for analysis of a larger sample with ALMA. Kinematic data are needed to determine the presence of any Keplerian disk. Using previous observations of p-H218O, we estimate the relative gas phase water abundances relative to total warm H2 to be 6.2 × 10-5 (IRAS 2A), 0.33 × 10-5 (IRAS 4A-NW), 1.8 × 10-7 (IRAS 4B), and < 2 × 10-7 (IRAS 4A-SE), roughly an order of magnitude higher than previously inferred when both warm and cold H2 were used as reference. A spherically symmetric single power-law envelope model fails to simultaneously reproduce both the small- and large-scale emission. Based on observations carried out with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany) and IGN (Spain).Continuum data for the sources are available through http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.47642 and at CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/590/A33

Barium ferrite thin-film recording media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sui, Xiaoyu; Scherge, Matthias; Kryder, Mark H.; Snyder, John E.; Harris, Vincent G.; Koon, Norman C.

1996-03-01

Both longitudinal and perpendicular barium ferrite thin films are being pursued as overcoatless magnetic recording media. In this paper, prior research on thin-film Ba ferrite is reviewed and the most recent results are presented. Self-textured high-coercivity longitudinal Ba ferrite thin films have been achieved using conventional rf diode sputtering. Microstructural studies show that c-axis in-plane oriented grains have a characteristic acicular shape, while c-axis perpendicularly oriented grains have a platelet shape. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements indicate that the crystal orientations are predetermined by the structural anisotropy in the as-sputtered 'amorphous' state. Recording tests on 1500 Oe coercivity longitudinal Ba ferrite disks show performance comparable with that of a 1900 Oe Co alloy disk. To further improve the recording performance, both grain size and aspect ratio need to be reduced. Initial tribological tests indicate high hardness of Ba ferrite thin films. However, surface roughness needs to be reduced. For future ultrahigh-density contact recording, it is believed that perpendicular recording may be used. A thin Pt underlayer has been found to be capable of producing Ba ferrite thin films with excellent c-axis perpendicular orientation.

The Matryoshka Disk: Keck/NIRC2 Discovery of a Solar-system-scale, Radially Segregated Residual Protoplanetary Disk around HD 141569A

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Currie, Thayne; Grady, Carol A.; Cloutier, Ryan; Konishi, Mihoko; Stassun, Keivan; Debes, John; van der Marel, Nienke; Muto, Takayuki; Jayawardhana, Ray; Ratzka, Thorsten

2016-03-01

Using Keck/NIRC2 {L}\\prime (3.78 μm) data, we report the direct imaging discovery of a scattered-light-resolved, solar-system-scale residual protoplanetary disk around the young A-type star HD 141569A, interior to and concentric with the two ring-like structures at wider separations. The disk is resolved down to ˜0.″25 and appears as an arc-like rim with attached hook-like features. It is located at an angular separation intermediate between that of warm CO gas identified from spatially resolved mid-infrared spectroscopy and diffuse dust emission recently discovered with the Hubble Space Telescope. The inner disk has a radius of ˜39 au, a position angle consistent with north up, and an inclination of I ˜ 56o and has a center offset from the star. Forward modeling of the disk favors a thick torus-like emission sharply truncated at separations beyond the torus’s photocenter and heavily depleted at smaller separations. In particular, the best-fit density power law for the dust suggests that the inner disk dust and gas (as probed by CO) are radially segregated, a feature consistent with the dust trapping mechanism inferred from observations of “canonical” transitional disks. However, the inner disk component may instead be explained by radiation pressure-induced migration in optically thin conditions, in contrast to the two stellar companion/planet-influenced ring-like structures at wider separations. HD 141569A’s circumstellar environment—with three nested, gapped, concentric dust populations—is an excellent laboratory for understanding the relationship between planet formation and the evolution of both dust grains and disk architecture.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kraus, Stefan; Espaillat, Catherine; Wilner, David J.

Pre-transitional disks are protoplanetary disks with a gapped disk structure, potentially indicating the presence of young planets in these systems. In order to explore the structure of these objects and their gap-opening mechanism, we observed the pre-transitional disk V1247 Orionis using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, the Keck Interferometer, Keck-II, Gemini South, and IRTF. This allows us to spatially resolve the AU-scale disk structure from near- to mid-infrared wavelengths (1.5-13 {mu}m), tracing material at different temperatures and over a wide range of stellocentric radii. Our observations reveal a narrow, optically thick inner-disk component (located at 0.18 AU from the star)more » that is separated from the optically thick outer disk (radii {approx}> 46 AU), providing unambiguous evidence for the existence of a gap in this pre-transitional disk. Surprisingly, we find that the gap region is filled with significant amounts of optically thin material with a carbon-dominated dust mineralogy. The presence of this optically thin gap material cannot be deduced solely from the spectral energy distribution, yet it is the dominant contributor at mid-infrared wavelengths. Furthermore, using Keck/NIRC2 aperture masking observations in the H, K', and L' bands, we detect asymmetries in the brightness distribution on scales of {approx}15-40 AU, i.e., within the gap region. The detected asymmetries are highly significant, yet their amplitude and direction changes with wavelength, which is not consistent with a companion interpretation but indicates an inhomogeneous distribution of the gap material. We interpret this as strong evidence for the presence of complex density structures, possibly reflecting the dynamical interaction of the disk material with sub-stellar mass bodies that are responsible for the gap clearing.« less

SAPNEW: Parallel finite element code for thin shell structures on the Alliant FX-80

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamat, Manohar P.; Watson, Brian C.

1992-11-01

The finite element method has proven to be an invaluable tool for analysis and design of complex, high performance systems, such as bladed-disk assemblies in aircraft turbofan engines. However, as the problem size increase, the computation time required by conventional computers can be prohibitively high. Parallel processing computers provide the means to overcome these computation time limits. This report summarizes the results of a research activity aimed at providing a finite element capability for analyzing turbomachinery bladed-disk assemblies in a vector/parallel processing environment. A special purpose code, named with the acronym SAPNEW, has been developed to perform static and eigen analysis of multi-degree-of-freedom blade models built-up from flat thin shell elements. SAPNEW provides a stand alone capability for static and eigen analysis on the Alliant FX/80, a parallel processing computer. A preprocessor, named with the acronym NTOS, has been developed to accept NASTRAN input decks and convert them to the SAPNEW format to make SAPNEW more readily used by researchers at NASA Lewis Research Center.

A magnetic damper for first mode vibration reduction in multimass flexible rotors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kasarda, M. E. F.; Allaire, P. E.; Humphris, R. R.; Barrett, L. E.

1989-01-01

Many rotating machines such as compressors, turbines and pumps have long thin shafts with resulting vibration problems, and would benefit from additional damping near the center of the shaft. Magnetic dampers have the potential to be employed in these machines because they can operate in the working fluid environment unlike conventional bearings. An experimental test rig is described which was set up with a long thin shaft and several masses to represent a flexible shaft machine. An active magnetic damper was placed in three locations: near the midspan, near one end disk, and close to the bearing. With typical control parameter settings, the midspan location reduced the first mode vibration 82 percent, the disk location reduced it 75 percent and the bearing location attained a 74 percent reduction. Magnetic damper stiffness and damping values used to obtain these reductions were only a few percent of the bearing stiffness and damping values. A theoretical model of both the rotor and the damper was developed and compared to the measured results. The agreement was good.

Binary pulsars as probes of a Galactic dark matter disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caputo, Andrea; Zavala, Jesús; Blas, Diego

2018-03-01

As a binary pulsar moves through a wind of dark matter particles, the resulting dynamical friction modifies the binary's orbit. We study this effect for the double disk dark matter (DDDM) scenario, where a fraction of the dark matter is dissipative and settles into a thin disk. For binaries within the dark disk, this effect is enhanced due to the higher dark matter density and lower velocity dispersion of the dark disk, and due to its co-rotation with the baryonic disk. We estimate the effect and compare it with observations for two different limits in the Knudsen number (Kn). First, in the case where DDDM is effectively collisionless within the characteristic scale of the binary (Kn ≫ 1) and ignoring the possible interaction between the pair of dark matter wakes. Second, in the fully collisional case (Kn ≪ 1), where a fluid description can be adopted and the interaction of the pair of wakes is taken into account. We find that the change in the orbital period is of the same order of magnitude in both limits. A comparison with observations reveals good prospects to probe currently allowed DDDM models with timing data from binary pulsars in the near future. We finally comment on the possibility of extending the analysis to the intermediate (rarefied gas) case with Kn ∼ 1.

ALMA Measurements of Circumstellar Material in the GQ Lup System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacGregor, Meredith A.; Wilner, David J.; Czekala, Ian; Andrews, Sean M.; Dai, Y. Sophia; Herczeg, Gregory J.; Kratter, Kaitlin M.; Kraus, Adam L.; Ricci, Luca; Testi, Leonardo

2017-01-01

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations of the GQ Lup system, a young Sun-like star with a substellar-mass companion in a wide-separation orbit. These observations of 870 μm continuum and CO J = 3-2 line emission with beam size ˜0.″3 (˜45 au) resolve the disk of dust and gas surrounding the primary star, GQ Lup A, and provide deep limits on any circumplanetary disk surrounding the companion, GQ Lup b. The circumprimary dust disk is compact with an FWHM of 59 ± 12 au, while the gas has a larger extent with a characteristic radius of 46.5 ± 1.8 au. By forward-modeling the velocity field of the circumprimary disk based on the CO emission, we constrain the mass of GQ Lup A to be M* = (1.03 ± 0.05) ∗ (d/156 pc) M⊙, where d is a known distance, and determine that we view the disk at an inclination angle of 60.°5 ± 0.°5 and a position angle of 346° ± 1°. The 3σ upper limit on the 870 μm flux density of any circumplanetary disk associated with GQ Lup b of <0.15 mJy implies an upper limit on the dust disk mass of <0.04 M⊕ for standard assumptions about optically thin emission. We discuss proposed mechanisms for the formation of wide-separation substellar companions given the non-detection of circumplanetary disks around GQ Lup b and other similar systems.

High-Current-Density Thermionic Cathodes and the Generation of High-Voltage Electron Beams

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-04-30

Cathode Temperature =1700 OC Figure 37: Peak gun voltage = 90 kV -57- 60- 0 EGUN 327 ~40 0S 20’ Vacuum 5 .2 x 10 Tor 0 o 0 15202 30 Time (jis...by modeling the filament as a thin disk. The shape of the H - V -, 2 actual filament is sketched in Fig. 2. The EGUN code 1 131 is used to calculate

Can mixed star-plus-wormhole systems mimic black holes?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dzhunushaliev, Vladimir; Folomeev, Vladimir; Kleihaus, Burkhard

We consider mixed strongly gravitating configurations consisting of a wormhole threaded by two types of ordinary matter. For such systems, the possibility of obtaining static spherically symmetric solutions describing compact massive central objects enclosed by high-redshift surfaces (black-hole-like configurations) is studied. Using the standard thin accretion disk model, we exhibit potentially observable differences allowing to distinguish the mixed systems from ordinary black holes with the same masses.

Jet Launching in Resistive GR-MHD Black Hole–Accretion Disk Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Qian; Fendt, Christian; Vourellis, Christos

2018-05-01

We investigate the launching mechanism of relativistic jets from black hole sources, in particular the strong winds from the surrounding accretion disk. Numerical investigations of the disk wind launching—the simulation of the accretion–ejection transition—have so far almost only been done for nonrelativistic systems. From these simulations we know that resistivity, or magnetic diffusivity, plays an important role for the launching process. Here we extend this treatment to general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GR-MHD), applying the resistive GR-MHD code rHARM. Our model setup considers a thin accretion disk threaded by a large-scale open magnetic field. We run a series of simulations with different Kerr parameter, field strength, and diffusivity level. Indeed, we find strong disk winds with, however, mildly relativistic speed, the latter most probably due to our limited computational domain. Further, we find that magnetic diffusivity lowers the efficiency of accretion and ejection, as it weakens the efficiency of the magnetic lever arm of the disk wind. As a major driving force of the disk wind we disentangle the toroidal magnetic field pressure gradient; however, magnetocentrifugal driving may also contribute. Black hole rotation in our simulations suppresses the accretion rate owing to an enhanced toroidal magnetic field pressure that seems to be induced by frame dragging. Comparing the energy fluxes from the Blandford–Znajek-driven central spine and the surrounding disk wind, we find that the total electromagnetic energy flux is dominated by the total matter energy flux of the disk wind (by a factor of 20). The kinetic energy flux of the matter outflow is comparatively small and comparable to the Blandford–Znajek electromagnetic energy flux.

Effect of tree-growth rate on papermaking fibre properties

Treesearch

J. Y. Zhu; D. W. Vahey; C. T. Scott; G. C. Myers

2008-01-01

Measurements of wood density and anatomical properties of wood disks were conducted by SilviScan (CSIRO Australia) and a new imaging technique. The disks included red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) obtained from a never-thinned experimental forest with five different plantation densities and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco) and lodgepole...

SELF-GRAVITATIONAL FORCE CALCULATION OF SECOND-ORDER ACCURACY FOR INFINITESIMALLY THIN GASEOUS DISKS IN POLAR COORDINATES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Hsiang-Hsu; Taam, Ronald E.; Yen, David C. C., E-mail: yen@math.fju.edu.tw

Investigating the evolution of disk galaxies and the dynamics of proto-stellar disks can involve the use of both a hydrodynamical and a Poisson solver. These systems are usually approximated as infinitesimally thin disks using two-dimensional Cartesian or polar coordinates. In Cartesian coordinates, the calculations of the hydrodynamics and self-gravitational forces are relatively straightforward for attaining second-order accuracy. However, in polar coordinates, a second-order calculation of self-gravitational forces is required for matching the second-order accuracy of hydrodynamical schemes. We present a direct algorithm for calculating self-gravitational forces with second-order accuracy without artificial boundary conditions. The Poisson integral in polar coordinates ismore » expressed in a convolution form and the corresponding numerical complexity is nearly linear using a fast Fourier transform. Examples with analytic solutions are used to verify that the truncated error of this algorithm is of second order. The kernel integral around the singularity is applied to modify the particle method. The use of a softening length is avoided and the accuracy of the particle method is significantly improved.« less

Oscillator strength and quantum-confined Stark effect of excitons in a thin PbS quantum disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oukerroum, A.; El-Yadri, M.; El Aouami, A.; Feddi, E.; Dujardin, F.; Duque, C. A.; Sadoqi, M.; Long, G.

2018-01-01

In this paper, we report a study of the effect of a lateral electric field on a quantum-confined exciton in a thin PbS quantum disk. Our approach was performed in the framework of the effective mass theory and adiabatic approximation. The ground state energy and the stark shift were determined by using a variational method with an adequate trial wavefunction, by investigating a 2D oscillator strength under simultaneous consideration of the geometrical confinement and the electric field strength. Our results showed a strong dependence of the exciton binding and the Stark shift on the disk dimensions in both axial and longitudinal directions. On the other hand, our results also showed that the Stark shift’s dependence on the electric field is not purely quadratic but the linear contribution is also important and cannot be neglected, especially when the confinement gets weaker.

Adaptive Optics Imaging of the Circumbinary Disk around the T Tauri Binary UY Aurigae: Estimates of the Binary Mass and Circumbinary Dust Grain Size Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Close, L. M.; Dutrey, A.; Roddier, F.; Guilloteau, S.; Roddier, C.; Northcott, M.; Ménard, F.; Duvert, G.; Graves, J. E.; Potter, D.

1998-05-01

We have obtained high-resolution (FWHM = 0.15") deep images of the UY Aur binary at J, H, and K' with the University of Hawaii adaptive optics instrument. We clearly detect an R ~ 500 AU circumbinary disk discovered with millimeter interferometry, making UY Aur the second young binary with a confirmed circumbinary disk. It appears that the disk is inclined ~42° from face on. We find that the near side of the disk is brighter than the far side by factors of 2.6, 2.7, and 6.5 times at K', H, and J, respectively. The original GG Tau circumbinary disk has been reexamined and is found to have similar flux ratios of 1.5, 2.6, and 3.6 at K', H, and J, respectively. A realistic power-law distribution (p = 4.7) of spherical dust aggregates (composed of silicates, amorphous carbon, and graphite) that reproduces the observed ISM extinction curve also predicts these observed flux ratios from Mie scattering theory. We find the observed preference of forward-scattering over back-scattering is well fitted (global χ2 minimization) by Mie scattering off particles in the range amin = 0.03 μm to amax = 0.5-0.6 μm. The existence of a significant population of grain radii larger than 0.6 μm is not supported by the scattering observations. Based on the observed disk inclination we derive an orbit for UY Aur where the mass for the binary is 1.6+0.47-0.67 M⊙. Based on the observed K7 and M0 spectral types for UY Aur A and B, accretion disk models for the inner disks around the central stars were constructed. The models suggest that small (lower limit R ~ 5-10 AU) inner disks exist around B and A. It appears that B is accreting ~5 times faster than A, and that both inner disks may be exhausted in ~102-103 yr without replenishment from the outer circumbinary disk. Our images suggest that these inner disks may indeed be resupplied with material through thin streamers of material that penetrate inside the circumbinary disk. Currently it appears that such a streamer may be a close to UY Aur B. Comparison of our IR images and the millimeter images of the gas clearly show that the dust seen in our IR images traces the gas in the circumbinary disk, as was also the case with GG Tau.

A simplified model for equilibrium and transient swelling of thermo-responsive gels.

PubMed

Drozdov, A D; deClaville Christiansen, J

2017-11-01

A simplified model is developed for the elastic response of thermo-responsive gels subjected to swelling under an arbitrary deformation with finite strains. The constitutive equations involve five adjustable parameters that are determined by fitting observations in equilibrium water uptake tests and T-jump transient tests on thin gel disks. Two scenarios for water release under heating are revealed by means of numerical simulation. When the final temperature in a T-jump test is below the volume-phase transition temperature, deswelling is characterized by smooth distribution of water molecules and small tensile stresses. When the final temperature exceeds the critical temperature, a gel disk is split into three regions (central part with a high concentration of water molecules and two domains near the boundaries with low water content) separated by sharp interfaces, whose propagation is accompanied by development of large (comparable with the elastic modulus) tensile stresses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High power disk lasers: advances and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havrilla, David; Holzer, Marco

2011-02-01

Though the genesis of the disk laser concept dates to the early 90's, the disk laser continues to demonstrate the flexibility and the certain future of a breakthrough technology. On-going increases in power per disk, and improvements in beam quality and efficiency continue to validate the genius of the disk laser concept. As of today, the disk principle has not reached any fundamental limits regarding output power per disk or beam quality, and offers numerous advantages over other high power resonator concepts, especially over monolithic architectures. With well over 1000 high power disk lasers installations, the disk laser has proven to be a robust and reliable industrial tool. With advancements in running cost, investment cost and footprint, manufacturers continue to implement disk laser technology with more vigor than ever. This paper will explain important details of the TruDisk laser series and process relevant features of the system, like pump diode arrangement, resonator design and integrated beam guidance. In addition, advances in applications in the thick sheet area and very cost efficient high productivity applications like remote welding, remote cutting and cutting of thin sheets will be discussed.

Spread of the dust temperature distribution in circumstellar disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heese, S.; Wolf, S.; Dutrey, A.; Guilloteau, S.

2017-07-01

Context. Accurate temperature calculations for circumstellar disks are particularly important for their chemical evolution. Their temperature distribution is determined by the optical properties of the dust grains, which, among other parameters, depend on their radius. However, in most disk studies, only average optical properties and thus an average temperature is assumed to account for an ensemble of grains with different radii. Aims: We investigate the impact of subdividing the grain radius distribution into multiple sub-intervals on the resulting dust temperature distribution and spectral energy distribution (SED). Methods: The temperature distribution, the relative grain surface below a certain temperature, the freeze-out radius, and the SED were computed for two different scenarios: (1) Radius distribution represented by 16 logarithmically distributed radius intervals, and (2) radius distribution represented by a single grain species with averaged optical properties (reference). Results: Within the considered parameter range, I.e., of grain radii between 5 nm and 1 mm and an optically thin and thick disk with a parameterized density distribution, we obtain the following results: in optically thin disk regions, the temperature spread can be as large as 63% and the relative grain surface below a certain temperature is lower than in the reference disk. With increasing optical depth, the difference in the midplane temperature and the relative grain surface below a certain temperature decreases. Furthermore, below 20 K, this fraction is higher for the reference disk than for the case of multiple grain radii, while it shows the opposite behavior for temperatures above this threshold. The thermal emission in the case of multiple grain radii at short wavelengths is stronger than for the reference disk. The freeze-out radius (snowline) is a function of grain radius, spanning a radial range between the coldest and warmest grain species of 30 AU.

Electrodeposited Co-Pt thin films for magnetic hard disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bozzini, B.; De Vita, D.; Sportoletti, A.; Zangari, G.; Cavallotti, P. L.; Terrenzio, E.

1993-03-01

ew baths for Co-Pt electrodeposition have been developed and developed and ECD thin films (≤0.3μm) have been prepared and characterized structurally (XRD), morphologically (SEM), chemically (EDS) and magnetically (VSM); their improved corrosion, oxidation and wear resistance have been ascertained. Such alloys appear suitable candidates for magnetic storage systems, from all technological viewpoints. The originally formulated baths contain Co-NH 3-citrate complexes and Pt-p salt (Pt(NH 3) 2(NO 2) 2). Co-Pt thin films of fcc structure are deposited obtaining microcrystallites of definite composition. At Pt ⋍ 30 at% we obtain fcc films with a=0.369 nm, HC=80 kA m, and high squareness; increasing Co and decreasing Pt content in the bath it is possible to reduce the Pt content of the deposit, obtaining fcc structures containing two types of microcrystals with a = 0.3615 nm and a = 0.369 nm deposited simultaneously. NaH 2PO 2 additions to the bath have a stabilizing influence on the fcc structure of a = 0.3615 nm, Pt ⋍ 20 at% and HC as high as 200 kA/m, with hysteresis loops suitable for both longitudinal or perpendicular recording, depending on the thickness. We have prepared 2.5 in. hard disks for magnetic recording with ECD Co-Pt 20 at% with a polished and texturized ACD Ni-P underlayer. Pulse response, 1F & 2F frequency and frequency sweep response behaviour, as well as noise and overwrite characteristics have been measured for both our disks and high-standard sputtered Co-Cr-Ta production disks, showin improved D50 for Co-Pt ECD disks. The signal-to-noise ratio could be improved by pulse electrodeposition and etching post-treatments.

New HErschel Multi-wavelength Extragalactic Survey of Edge-on Spirals (NHEMESES)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holwerda, B. W.; Bianchi, S.; Baes, M.; de Jong, R. S.; Dalcanton, J. J.; Radburn-Smith, D.; Gordon, K.; Xilouris, M.

2012-08-01

Edge-on spiral galaxies offer a unique perspective on the vertical structure of spiral disks, both stars and the iconic dark dustlanes. The thickness of these dustlanes can now be resolved for the first time with Herschel in far-infrared and sub-mm emission. We present NHEMESES, an ongoing project that targets 12 edge-on spiral galaxies with the PACS and SPIRE instruments on Herschel. These vertically resolved observations of edge-on spirals will impact on several current topics. First and foremost, these Herschel observations will settle whether or not there is a phase change in the vertical structure of the ISM with disk mass. Previously, a dramatic change in dustlane morphology was observed as in massive disks the dust collapses into a thin lane. If this is the case, the vertical balance between turbulence and gravity dictates the ISM structure and consequently star-formation and related phenomena (spiral arms, bars etc.). We specifically target lower mass nearby edge-ons to complement existing Herschel observations of high-mass edge-on spirals (the HEROES project). Secondly, the combined data-set, together with existing Spitzer observations, will drive a new generation of spiral disk Spectral Energy Distribution models. These model how dust reprocesses starlight to thermal emission but the dust geometry remains the critical unknown. And thirdly, the observations will provide an accurate and unbiased census of the cold dusty structures occasionally seen extending out of the plane of the disk, when backlit by the stellar disk. To illustrate the NHEMESES project, we present early results on NGC 4244 and NGC 891, two well studies examples of a low and high-mass edge-on spiral.

Exploring Structures and Variability in the Pre-transitional Disk in HD 169142

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Kevin Robert; Sitko, Michael L.; Grady, Carol A.; Whitney, Barbara; Swearingen, Jeremy R.; Champney, Elizabeth H.; Johnson, Alexa N.; Warren, Chelsea C.; Russell, Ray W.; Schneider, Glenn; Momose, Muntake; Muto, Takayuki; Inoue, Akio K.; Lauroesch, James Thomas; Hornbeck, Jeremy; Brown, Alexander; Fukagawa, Misato; Currie, Thayne M.; Wisniewski, John P.; Woodgate, Bruce E.

2015-01-01

We present a theoretical modelling analysis of of the structures in the pre-transisitonal disk in HD 169142 using 3D Monte-Carlo radiative transfer simulation. The multi-epoch broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) exhibits clear evidence of changes to the inner (sub-AU) regions of the disk over a maximum timescale of 10 years with the additional constraint that the shadowing of the outer (>25 AU) disk is non-time-dependent. We find that changes to the inner dust rim (0.2 AU) cannot account for this behavior. Instead, we find that if the inner disk posses an optically thin body of small grains then changes to the outer edge of these structures may successfully reproduce the two states in the SED (analogous to what may be occurring due to accretion onto the central star or dynamical clearing by planets). Furthermore, we explore the density distributions of the outer disk structures as they are constrained by the SED and imaged surface brightness profiles, with the conclusion that a mid-plane density power law profile of r^{-2} and r^{-1} for the 35-70 AU and 70-250 AU regions, respectively, may reproduce the observations to the limit of our available complexity of structures within our modelling software. Finally, we find that a 0.3x density scaling of the 35-70 AU region reproduces the second gap imaged in the near-infrared and at 7 mm, strengthening the link to this structure being cleared by one or more planetary mass bodies.This work was supported by NASA ADAP grant NNX09AC73G, Hubble Space Telescope grant HST-GO-13032, the IR&D program at The Aerospace Corporation, and the University of Cincinnati Honors Program.

Thermal Management Investigations in Ceramic Thin Disk Lasers

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-14

techniques. 10-14mm diameter 0.2mm thick disks are mounted on silicon carbide ( SiC ), sapphire, and diamond submounts. From a larger platform, more than 6kW...along with various cooling techniques. 10-14mm diameter O.2mm thick disks are mounted on silicon carbide ( SiC ), sapphire, and diamond submounts. From a...assemblies are either attached to heat sinks or directly to the Cu W cooling mount, see Fig. I (c) & (d). The heat sinks tested are SiC , sapphire, and

The Radio Jets and Accretion Disk in NGC 4261

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Dayton L.; Wehrle, Ann E.; Meier, David L.; Piner, B. Glenn

2000-05-01

The structure of active galactic nucleus (AGN) accretion disks on subparsec scales can be probed through free-free absorption of synchrotron emission from the base of symmetric radio jets. For objects in which both jet and counterjet are detectable with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), the accretion disk will cover part of the counterjet and produce diminished brightness whose angular size and depth as a function of frequency can reveal the radial distribution of free electrons in the disk. The nearby (41 Mpc, independent of H0) FR I radio galaxy NGC 4261 contains a pair of symmetric kiloparsec-scale jets. On parsec scales, radio emission from the nucleus is strong enough for detailed imaging with VLBI. We present new Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of NGC 4261 at 22 and 43 GHz, which we combine with previous observations at 1.6 and 8.4 GHz to map absorption caused by an inner accretion disk. The relative closeness of NGC 4261 combined with the high angular resolution provided by the VLBA at 43 GHz gives us a very high linear resolution, approximately 2×10-2 pc ~4000 AU ~400 Schwarzschild radii for a 5×108 Msolar black hole. The jets appear more symmetric at 1.6 GHz because of the low angular resolution available. The jets are also more symmetric at 22 and 43 GHz, presumably because the optical depth of free-free absorption is small at high frequencies. At 8.4 GHz, neither confusion effect is dominant and absorption of counterjet emission by the presumed disk is detectable. We find that the orientation of the radio jet axis is the same on parsec and kiloparsec scales, indicating that the spin axis of the inner accretion disk and black hole has remained unchanged for at least 106 (and more likely >107) yr. This suggests that a single merger event may be responsible for the supply of gas in the nucleus of NGC 4261. The jet opening angle is between 0.3d and 20° during the first 0.2 pc of the jet and must be less than 5° during the first 0.8 pc. Assuming that the accretion disk is geometrically and optically thin and composed of a uniform 104 K plasma, the average electron density in the inner 0.1 pc of the disk is 103-108 cm-3. The mass of ionized gas in the inner pc of the disk is 101-103 Msolar, sufficient to power the radio source for ~104-106 yr. Equating thermal gas pressure and magnetic field strength gives a disk magnetic field of ~10-4 to 10-2 gauss at 0.1 pc. We include an appendix containing expressions for a simple, optically thin, gas-pressure-dominated accretion disk model that may be applicable to other galaxies in addition to NGC 4261.

Abundances of neutron-capture elements in stars of the Galactic disk substructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishenina, T. V.; Pignatari, M.; Korotin, S. A.; Soubiran, C.; Charbonnel, C.; Thielemann, F.-K.; Gorbaneva, T. I.; Basak, N. Yu.

2013-04-01

Aims: The aim of this work is to present and discuss the observations of the iron peak (Fe, Ni) and neutron-capture element (Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, and Eu) abundances for 276 FGK dwarfs, located in the Galactic disk with metallicity -1 < [Fe/H] < +0.3. Methods: Atmospheric parameters and chemical composition of the studied stars were determined from an high resolution, high signal-to-noise echelle spectra obtained with the echelle spectrograph ELODIE at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence (France). Effective temperatures were estimated by the line depth ratio method and from the Hα line-wing fitting. Surface gravities (log g) were determined by parallaxes and the ionization balance of iron. Abundance determinations were carried out using the LTE approach, taking the hyperfine structure for Eu into account, and the abundance of Ba was computed under the NLTE approximation. Results: We are able to assign most of the stars in our sample to the substructures of the Galaxy thick disk, thin disk, or Hercules stream according to their kinematics. The classification of 27 stars is uncertain. For most of the stars in the sample, the abundances of neutron-capture elements have not been measured earlier. For all of them, we provide the chemical composition and discuss the contribution from different nucleosynthesis processes. Conclusions: The [Ni/Fe] ratio shows a flat value close to the solar one for the whole metallicity range, with a small scatter, pointing to a nearly solar Ni/Fe ratio for the ejecta of both core-collapse SN and SNIa. The increase in the [Ni/Fe] for metallicity higher than solar is confirmed, and it is due to the metallicity dependence of 56Ni ejecta from SNIa. Under large uncertainty in the age determination of observed stars, we verified that there is a large dispersion in the AMR in the thin disk, and no clear trend as in the thick disk. That may be one of the main reasons for the dispersion, observed for the s-process elements in the thin disk (e.g., Ba and La), whereas much narrower dispersion can be seen for r-process elements (e.g., Eu). Within the current uncertainties, we do not see a clear decreasing trend of [Ba/Fe] or [La/Fe] with metallicity in the thin disk, except maybe for super-solar metallicities. We cannot confirm an increase in the mentioned ratios with decreasing stellar age. Based on spectra collected with the ELODIE spectrograph at the 1.93-m telescope of the Observatoire de Haute Provence (France).Tables 4 and 5 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/552/A128

Searching for H2 emission from protoplanetary disks using near- and mid-infrared high-resolution spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carmona, A.; van den Ancker, M. E.; Henning, Th.; Pavlyuchenkov, Ya.; Dullemond, C. P.; Goto, M.; Fedele, D.; Stecklum, B.; Thi, W.-F.; Bouwman, J.; Waters, L. B. F. M.

2008-05-01

The mass and dynamics of protoplanetary disks are dominated by molecular hydrogen (H2). However, observationally very little is known about the H2. In this paper, we discuss two projects aimed to constrain the properties of H2 in the disk's planet forming region (R<50AU). First, we present a sensitive survey for pure-rotational H2 emission at 12.278 and 17.035 μm in a sample of nearby Herbig Ae/Be and T Tauri stars using VISIR, ESO's VLT high-resolution mid-infrared spectrograph. Second, we report on a search for H2 ro-vibrational emission at 2.1228, 2.2233 and 2.2477 μm in the classical T Tauri star LkHα 264 and the debris disk 49 Cet employing CRIRES, ESO's VLT high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph. VISIR project: none of the sources show H2 mid-IR emission. The observed disks contain less than a few tenths of MJupiter of optically thin H2 at 150 K, and less than a few MEarth at T>300 K. % and higher T. Our non-detections are consistent with the low flux levels expected from the small amount of H2 gas in the surface layer of a Chiang and Goldreich (1997) Herbig Ae two-layer disk model. In our sources the H2 and dust in the surface layer have not significantly departed from thermal coupling (Tgas/Tdust<2) and the gas-to-dust ratio in the surface layer is very likely <1000. CRIRES project: The H2 lines at 2.1218 μm and 2.2233 μm are detected in LkHα 264. An upper limit on the 2.2477 μm H2 line flux in LkHα 264 is derived. 49 Cet does not exhibit H2 emission in any of observed lines. There are a few MMoon of optically thin hot H2 in the inner disk (0.1 AU) of LkHα 264, and less than a tenth of a MMoon of hot H2 in the inner disk of 49 Cet. The shape of the 1 0 S(0) line indicates that LkHα disk is close to face-on (i<35o). The measured 1 0 S(0)/1 0 S(1) and 2 1 S(1)/1 0 S(1) line ratios in LkHα 264 indicate that the H2 is thermally excited at T<1500 K. The lack of H2 emission in the NIR spectra of 49 Cet and the absence of Hα emission suggest that the gas in the inner disk of 49 Cet has dissipated.

An X-Ray Reprocessing Model of Disk Thermal Emission in Type 1 Seyfert Galaxies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chiang, James; White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Using a geometry consisting of a hot central Comptonizing plasma surrounded by a thin accretion disk, we model the optical through hard X-ray spectral energy distributions of the type 1 Seyfert. galaxies NGC 3516 and NGC 7469. As in the model proposed by Poutanen, Krolik, and Ryde for the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 and later applied to Seyfert galaxies by Zdziarski, Lubifiski, and Smith, feedback between the radiation reprocessed by the disk and the thermal Comptonization emission from the hot central plasma plays a pivotal role in determining the X-ray spectrum, and as we show, the optical and ultraviolet spectra as well. Seemingly uncorrelated optical/UV and X-ray light curves, similar to those which have been observed from these objects can, in principle, be explained by variations in the size, shape, and temperature of the Comptonizing plasma. Furthermore, by positing a disk mass accretion rate which satisfies a condition for global energy balance between the thermal Comptonization luminosity and the power available from accretion, one can predict the spectral properties of the heretofore poorly measured hard X-ray continuum above approximately 50 keV in type 1 Seyfert galaxies. Conversely, forthcoming measurements of the hard X-ray continuum by more sensitive hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray telescopes, such as those aboard the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) in conjunction with simultaneous optical, UV, and soft X-ray monitoring, will allow the mass accretion rates to be directly constrained for these sources in the context of this model.

A 12.1-W SESAM mode-locked Yb:YAG thin disk laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yingnan, Peng; Zhaohua, Wang; Dehua, Li; Jiangfeng, Zhu; Zhiyi, Wei

2016-05-01

Pumped by a 940 nm fiber-coupled diode laser, a passively mode-locked Yb:YAG thin disk oscillator was demonstrated with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). 12.1 W mode-locked pulses were obtained with pulse duration of 698 fs at the repetition rate of 57.43 MHz. Measurement showed that the beam quality was close to the diffraction limit. Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB922402), the National Major Instrument Program of China (Grant No. 2012YQ120047), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61210017).

Pulse compression of a high-power thin disk laser using rod-type fiber amplifiers.

PubMed

Saraceno, C J; Heckl, O H; Baer, C R E; Südmeyer, T; Keller, U

2011-01-17

We report on two pulse compressors for a high-power thin disk laser oscillator using rod-type fiber amplifiers. Both systems are seeded by a standard SESAM modelocked thin disk laser that delivers 16 W of average power at a repetition rate of 10.6 MHz with a pulse energy of 1.5 μJ and a pulse duration of 1 ps. We discuss two results with different fiber parameters with different trade-offs in pulse duration, average power, damage and complexity. The first amplifier setup consists of a Yb-doped fiber amplifier with a 2200 μm2 core area and a length of 55 cm, resulting in a compressed average power of 55 W with 98-fs pulses at a repetition rate of 10.6 MHz. The second system uses a shorter 36-cm fiber with a larger core area of 4500 μm2. In a stretcher-free configuration we obtained 34 W of compressed average power and 65-fs pulses. In both cases peak powers of > 30 MW were demonstrated at several μJ pulse energies. The power scaling limitations due to damage and self-focusing are discussed.

HUBBLE SEES DISKS AROUND YOUNG STARS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

[Top left]: This Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) image shows Herbig-Haro 30 (HH 30), the prototype of a young star surrounded by a thin, dark disk and emitting powerful gaseous jets. The disk extends 40 billion miles from left to right in the image, dividing the nebula in two. The central star is hidden from direct view, but its light reflects off the upper and lower surfaces of the disk to produce the pair of reddish nebulae. The gas jets are shown in green. Credit: Chris Burrows (STScI), the WFPC2 Science Team and NASA [Top right]: DG Tauri B appears very similar to HH 30, with jets and a central dark lane with reflected starlight at its edges. In this WFPC2 image, the dust lane is much thicker than seen in HH 30, indicating that dusty material is still in the process of falling onto the hidden star and disk. The bright jet extends a distance of 90 billion miles away from the system. Credit: Chris Burrows (STScI), the WFPC2 Science Team and NASA [Lower left]: Haro 6-5B is a nearly edge-on disk surrounded by a complex mixture of wispy clouds of dust and gas. In this WFPC2 image, the central star is partially hidden by the disk, but can be pinpointed by the stubby jet (shown in green), which it emits. The dark disk extends 32 billion miles across at a 90-degree angle to the jet. Credit: John Krist (STScI), the WFPC2 Science Team and NASA [Lower right]: HK Tauri is the first example of a young binary star system with an edge-on disk around one member of the pair. The thin, dark disk is illuminated by the light of its hidden central star. The absence of jets indicates that the star is not actively accreting material from this disk. The disk diameter is 20 billion miles. The brighter primary star appears at top of the image. Credit: Karl Stapelfeldt (JPL) and colleagues, and NASA

z~2: An Epoch of Disk Assembly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simons, Raymond C.; Kassin, Susan A.; Weiner, Benjamin; Heckman, Timothy M.; Trump, Jonathan; SIGMA, DEEP2

2018-01-01

At z = 0, the majority of massive star-forming galaxies contain thin, rotationally supported gas disks. It was once accepted that galaxies form thin disks early: collisional gas with high velocity dispersion should dissipate energy, conserve angular momentum, and develop strong rotational support in only a few galaxy crossing times (~few hundred Myr). However, this picture is complicated at high redshift, where the processes governing galaxy assembly tend to be violent and inhospitable to disk formation. We present results from our SIGMA survey of star-forming galaxy kinematics at z = 2. These results challenge the simple picture described above: galaxies at z = 2 are unlike local well-ordered disks. Their kinematics tend to be much more disordered, as quantified by their low ratios of rotational velocity to gas velocity dispersion (Vrot/σg): less than 35% of galaxies have Vrot/σg > 3. For comparison, nearly 100% of local star-forming galaxies meet this same threshold. We combine our high redshift sample with a similar low redshift sample from the DEEP2 survey. This combined sample covers a continuous redshift baseline over 0.1 < z < 2.5, spanning 10 Gyrs of cosmic time. Over this period, galaxies exhibit remarkably smooth kinematic evolution on average. All galaxies tend towards rotational support with time, and it is reached earlier in higher mass systems. This is due to both a significant decline in gas velocity dispersion and a mild rise in ordered rotational motions. These results indicate that z = 2 is a period of disk assembly, during which the strong rotational support present in today’s massive disk galaxies is only just beginning to emerge.

Theory of active galactic nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shields, G. A.

1986-01-01

The involvement of accretion disks around supermassive black holes in the theory of active galactic nuclei (AGN) is discussed. The physics of thin and thick accretion disks is discussed and the partition between thermal and nonthermal energy production in supermassive disks is seen as uncertain. The thermal limit cycle may operate in supermassive disks (Shields, 1985), with accumulation of gas in the disk for periods of 10 to the 4th to 10 to the 7th years, punctuated by briefer outbursts during which the mass is rapidly transferred to smaller radii. An extended X-ray source in AGN is consistent with observations (Tennant and Mushotsky, 1983), and a large wind mass loss rate exceeding the central accretion rate means that only a fraction of the mass entering the disk will reach the central object; the rest being lost to the wind. Controversy in the relationship between the broad lines and the disk is also discussed.

Wave Excitation in Accretion Disks by Protoplanets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koller, J.; Li, H.

2002-05-01

The ongoing discoveries of extrasolar planets in the recent years revealed remarkable properties and unexpected results concerning the formation process. We studied the perturbation of a protostellar accretion disk by a companion utilizing APOLLO, a fast hydro disk code well tested in the case of accretion disks without a companion (Li et al. 2001, ApJ, 551, 874). We consider limiting cases where the companion's mass is much smaller than the central protostar and resides in a circular keplerian orbit. The gravitational field of the protoplanet, embedded in a numerically thin disk, generates spiral density waves and Rossby instabilities resulting in a non-axisymmetric density distribution. We present nonlinear hydro simulations to investigate those non-axisymmetric density distribution with different disk and planet parameters in order to understand how disks respond to a fixed companion in orbit. This work has been supported by IGPP at LANL (award # 1109) and NASA (grant # NAG5-9223).

Tempest in a glass tube: A helical vortex formation in a complex plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saitou, Yoshifumi; Ishihara, Osamu; Ishihara

2014-12-01

A collective behavior of dust particles in a complex plasma with a magnetic field (up to 4 kG) is investigated. Dust particles form a dust disk which is rotating in a horizontal plane pushed by ions rotating with the E × B drift as a trigger force. The thickness of the disk is determined by controlling the experimental conditions. The disk rotates in a horizontal plane and forms a two-dimensional thin structure when the pressure pAr is relatively high. The dust particles are ejected from near the disk center and form a rotation in the vertical plane and, hence, forms a helical vortex when the disk is thick for relatively low pAr . The reason the dust disk has the different thickness is due to the neutral pressure. Under a higher (lower) neutral gas pressure, the disk becomes two (three) dimensional due to the influence of the neutral drag force.

INTERFERENCE AS AN ORIGIN OF THE PEAKED NOISE IN ACCRETING X-RAY BINARIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Veledina, Alexandra, E-mail: alexandra.veledina@gmail.com

2016-12-01

We propose a physical model for the peaked noise in the X-ray power density spectra of accreting X-ray binaries. We interpret its appearance as an interference of two Comptonization continua: one coming from the upscattering of seed photons from the cold thin disk and the other fed by the synchrotron emission of the hot flow. Variations of both X-ray components are caused by fluctuations in mass accretion rate, but there is a delay between them corresponding to the propagation timescale from the disk Comptonization radius to the region of synchrotron Comptonization. If the disk and synchrotron Comptonization are correlated, themore » humps in the power spectra are harmonically related and the dips between them appear at frequencies related as odd numbers 1:3:5. If they are anti-correlated, the humps are related as 1:3:5, but the dips are harmonically related. Similar structures are expected to be observed in accreting neutron star binaries and supermassive black holes. The delay can be easily recovered from the frequency of peaked noise and further used to constrain the combination of the viscosity parameter and disk height-to-radius ratio α ( H / R ){sup 2} of the accretion flow. We model multi-peak power spectra of black hole X-ray binaries GX 339–4 and XTE J1748–288 to constrain these parameters.« less

Effect of tree-growth rate on papermaking fiber properties

Treesearch

Junyong Zhu; David W. Vahey; C. Tim Scott; Gary C. Myers

2007-01-01

Measurements of wood density and anatomical properties of wood disks were conducted by SilviScan (CSIRO Australia) and a new imaging technique. The disks included red pine obtained from a never-thinned experimental forest with five different plantation densities and Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine (one normal growth and the other suppressed growth) both supplied by a...

THE PROPERTIES OF HYPERVELOCITY STARS AND S-STARS ORIGINATING FROM AN ECCENTRIC DISK AROUND A SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Šubr, Ladislav; Haas, Jaroslav, E-mail: subr@sirrah.troja.mff.cuni.cz, E-mail: haas@sirrah.troja.mff.cuni.cz

2016-09-01

Hypervelocity stars (HVSs), which are observed in the Galactic halo, are believed to be accelerated to large velocities by a process of tidal disruption of binary stars passing close to the supermassive black hole (SMBH) which resides in the center of the Galaxy. It is, however, still unclear where these relatively young stars were born and what dynamical process pushed them to nearly radial orbits around the SMBH. In this paper we investigate the possibility that the young binaries originated from a thin eccentric disk, similar to the one currently observed in the Galactic center. By means of direct Nmore » -body simulations, we follow the dynamical evolution of an initially thin and eccentric disk of stars with a 100% binary fraction orbiting around the SMBH. Such a configuration leads to Kozai–Lidov oscillations of orbital elements, bringing a considerable number of binaries to the close vicinity of the black hole. Subsequent tidal disruption of these binaries accelerates one of their components to velocities well above the escape velocity from the SMBH, while the second component becomes tightly bound to the SMBH. We describe the main kinematic properties of the escaping and tightly bound stars within our model, and compare them qualitatively to the properties of the observed HVSs and S-stars, respectively. The most prominent feature is strong anisotropy in the directions of the escaping stars, which is observed for Galactic HVSs but has not yet been explained.« less

The Thick Disk in the Galaxy NGC 4244 from S4G Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comerón, Sébastien; Knapen, Johan H.; Sheth, Kartik; Regan, Michael W.; Hinz, Joannah L.; Gil de Paz, Armando; Menéndez-Delmestre, Karín; Muñoz-Mateos, Juan-Carlos; Seibert, Mark; Kim, Taehyun; Athanassoula, E.; Bosma, Albert; Buta, Ronald J.; Elmegreen, Bruce G.; Ho, Luis C.; Holwerda, Benne W.; Laurikainen, Eija; Salo, Heikki; Schinnerer, Eva

2011-03-01

If thick disks are ubiquitous and a natural product of disk galaxy formation and/or evolution processes, all undisturbed galaxies that have evolved during a significant fraction of a Hubble time should have a thick disk. The late-type spiral galaxy NGC 4244 has been reported as the only nearby edge-on galaxy without a confirmed thick disk. Using data from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) we have identified signs of two disk components in this galaxy. The asymmetries between the light profiles on both sides of the mid-plane of NGC 4244 can be explained by a combination of the galaxy not being perfectly edge-on and a certain degree of opacity of the thin disk. We argue that the subtlety of the thick disk is a consequence of either a limited secular evolution in NGC 4244, a small fraction of stellar material in the fragments which built the galaxy, or a high amount of gaseous accretion after the formation of the galaxy.

First direct detection of a Keplerian rotating disk around the Be star α Arae using AMBER/VLTI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meilland, A.; Stee, P.; Vannier, M.; Millour, F.; Domiciano de Souza, A.; Malbet, F.; Martayan, C.; Paresce, F.; Petrov, R. G.; Richichi, A.; Spang, A.

2007-03-01

Aims:We aim to study the geometry and kinematics of the disk around the Be star α Arae as a function of wavelength, especially across the Brγ emission line. The main purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of the disk rotation around Be stars. Methods: We use the AMBER/VLTI instrument operating in the K-band, which provides a gain by a factor of 5 in spatial resolution compared to previous MIDI/VLTI observations. Moreover, it is possible to combine the high angular resolution provided with the (medium) spectral resolution of AMBER to study the kinematics of the inner part of the disk and to infer its rotation law. Results: For the first time, we obtain direct evidence that the disk is in Keplerian rotation, answering a question that has existed since the discovery of the first Be star γ Cas by Father Secchi in 1866. We also present the global geometry of the disk, showing that it is compatible with a thin disk and polar enhanced winds modeled with the SIMECA code. We found that the disk around α Arae is compatible with a dense equatorial matter confined to the central region, whereas a polar wind is contributing along the rotational axis of the central star. Between these two regions, the density must be low enough to reproduce the large visibility modulus (small extension) obtained for two of the four VLTI baselines. Moreover, we obtain that α Arae is rotating very close to its critical rotation. This scenario is also compatible with the previous MIDI measurements. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile, within the science demonstration time programme 074.A-9026(A).

Numerical Treatment of Thin Accretion Disk Dynamics around Rotating Black Holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yildiran, Deniz; Donmez, Orhan

In the present study, we perform the numerical simulation of a relativistic thin accretion disk around the nonrotating and rapidly rotating black holes using the general relativistic hydrodynamic code with Kerr in Kerr-Schild coordinate that describes the central rotating black hole. Since the high energy X-rays are produced close to the event horizon resulting the black hole-disk interaction, this interaction should be modeled in the relativistic region. We have set up two different initial conditions depending on the values of thermodynamical variables around the black hole. In the first setup, the computational domain is filled with constant parameters without injecting gas from the outer boundary. In the second, the computational domain is filled with the matter which is then injected from the outer boundary. The matter is assumed to be at rest far from the black hole. Both cases are modeled over a wide range of initial parameters such as the black hole angular momentum, adiabatic index, Mach number and asymptotic velocity of the fluid. It has been found that initial values and setups play an important role in determining the types of the shock cone and in designating the events on the accretion disk. The continuing injection from the outer boundary presents a tail shock to the steady state accretion disk. The opening angle of shock cone grows as long as the rotation parameter becomes larger. A more compressible fluid (bigger adiabatic index) also presents a bigger opening angle, a spherical shock around the rotating black hole, and less accumulated gas in the computational domain. While results from [J. A. Font, J. M. A. Ibanez and P. Papadopoulos, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 305 (1999) 920] indicate that the tail shock is warped around for the rotating hole, our study shows that it is the case not only for the warped tail shock but also for the spherical and elliptical shocks around the rotating black hole. The warping around the rotating black hole in our case is much smaller than the one by [J. A. Font, J. M. A. Ibanez and P. Papadopoulos, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 305 (1999) 920], due to the representation of results at the different coordinates. Contrary to the nonrotating black hole, the tail shock is slightly warped around the rotating black hole. The filled computational domain without any injection leads to an unstable accretion disk. However much of it reaches a steady state for a short period of time and presents quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO). Furthermore, the disk tends to loose mass during the whole dynamical evolution. The time-variability of these types of accretion flowing close to the black hole may clarify the light curves in Sgr A*.

ngVLA Key Science Goal 1: Unveiling the Formation of Solar System Analogues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Shangfei; Ricci, Luca; Isella, Andrea; Li, Hui; Li, Shengtai

2018-01-01

The annular gaps and other substructures discovered in several protoplanetary disks by ALMA and optical/NIR telescopes are reminiscent of the interaction between newborn planets and the circumstellar material. The comparison with theoretical models indicates that these structures might indeed result from the gravitational interaction between the circumstellar disk and Saturn-mass planets orbiting at tens of AU from the parent star. The same observations also revealed that the submm-wave dust continuum emission arising within 10-30 AU from the star is optically thick. The large optical depth prevents us from accurately measuring the dust density and, therefore, image planet-driven density perturbations. A natural solution to this problem consists in imaging disks at wavelengths of 3mm and longer, where the dust continuum emission from the innermost disk regions is optically thin, but still bright enough to be detected. These wavelengths are covered by the VLA, which, however, lacks the angular resolution and sensitivity to efficiently search for signatures of planets orbiting in the innermost and densest disk regions. Thanks to its much larger collecting area, resolving power, and image quality the Next Generation VLA (ngVLA) will transform the study of planet formation. we present the results of a recent study aimed at investigating the potential of the ngVLA of discovering disk sub-structures, such as gaps and azimuthal asymmetries, generated by the interaction with low-mass forming planets at < 10 au from the star.

The Gamma-Ray Laser Project

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-10-01

rabbits, P to flat planchettes , F to metallic foils, and B to scintillation bottles. The 18Ta sample consisted of a dusting of oxide on a thin aluminum...slower class consisted either of thin metallic disks or metallic chips or chemical compounds contained within flat polyethylene planchettes . 16 N00014-86

High-power disk lasers: advances and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havrilla, David; Ryba, Tracey; Holzer, Marco

2012-03-01

Though the genesis of the disk laser concept dates to the early 90's, the disk laser continues to demonstrate the flexibility and the certain future of a breakthrough technology. On-going increases in power per disk, and improvements in beam quality and efficiency continue to validate the genius of the disk laser concept. As of today, the disk principle has not reached any fundamental limits regarding output power per disk or beam quality, and offers numerous advantages over other high power resonator concepts, especially over monolithic architectures. With about 2,000 high power disk lasers installations, and a demand upwards of 1,000 lasers per year, the disk laser has proven to be a robust and reliable industrial tool. With advancements in running cost, investment cost and footprint, manufacturers continue to implement disk laser technology with more vigor than ever. This paper will explain recent advances in disk laser technology and process relevant features of the laser, like pump diode arrangement, resonator design and integrated beam guidance. In addition, advances in applications in the thick sheet area and very cost efficient high productivity applications like remote welding, remote cutting and cutting of thin sheets will be discussed.

Characterization facility for magneto-optic media and systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mansuripur, M.; Fu, H.; Gadetsky, S.; Sugaya, S.; Wu, T. H.; Zambuto, J.; Gerber, R.; Goodman, T.; Erwin, J. K.

1993-01-01

Objectives of this research are: (1) to measure the hysteresis loop, Kerr rotation angle, anisotropy energy profile, Hall voltage, and magnetoresistance of thin-film magneto-optic media using our loop-tracer; (2) measure the wavelength-dependence of the Kerr rotation angle, Theta(sub k), and ellipticity, epsilon(sub k), for thin-film media using our magneto-optic Kerr spectrometer (MOKS); (3) measure the dielectric tensor of thin-film and multilayer samples using our variable-angle magneto-optic ellipsometer (VAMOE); (4) measure the hysteresis loop, coercivity, remanent magnetization, saturation magnetization, and anisotropy energy constant for thin film magnetic media using vibrating sample magnetometry; (5) observe small magnetic domains and investigate their interaction with defects using magnetic force microscopy; (6) perform static read/write/erase experiments on thin-film magneto-optic media using our static test station; (7) integrate the existing models of magnetization, magneto-optic effects, coercivity, and anisotropy in an interactive and user-friendly environment, and analyze the characterization data obtained in the various experiments, using this modeling package; (8) measure focusing- and tracking-error signals on a static testbed, determine the 'feedthrough' for various focusing schemes, investigate the effects of polarization and birefringence, and compare the results with diffraction-based calculations; and (9) measure the birefringence of optical disk substrates using two variable angle ellipsometers.

Mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator with 41 µJ pulse energy at 145 W average infrared power and high power frequency conversion.

PubMed

Bauer, Dominik; Zawischa, Ivo; Sutter, Dirk H; Killi, Alexander; Dekorsy, Thomas

2012-04-23

We demonstrate the generation of 1.1 ps pulses containing more than 41 µJ of energy directly out of an Yb:YAG thin-disk without any additional amplification stages. The laser oscillator operates in ambient atmosphere with a 3.5 MHz repetition rate and 145 W of average output power at a fundamental wavelength of 1030 nm. An average output power of 91.5 W at 515 nm was obtained by frequency doubling with a conversion efficiency exceeding 65%. Third harmonic generation resulted in 34 W at 343 nm at 34% efficiency. © 2012 Optical Society of America

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Katkov, Ivan Yu.; Sil'chenko, Olga K.; Afanasiev, Victor L., E-mail: katkov.ivan@gmail.com, E-mail: olga@sai.msu.su, E-mail: vafan@sao.ru

We have obtained and analyzed long-slit spectral data for the lenticular galaxy IC 719. In this gas-rich S0 galaxy, its large-scale gaseous disk counterrotates the global stellar disk. Moreover, in the IC 719 disk, we have detected a secondary stellar component corotating the ionized gas. By using emission line intensity ratios, we have proven the gas excitation by young stars and thus claim current star formation, the most intense in a ring-like zone at a radius of 10'' (1.4 kpc). The oxygen abundance of the gas in the star-forming ring is about half of the solar abundance. Since the stellarmore » disk remains dynamically cool, we conclude that smooth prolonged accretion of the external gas from a neighboring galaxy provides the current building of the thin large-scale stellar disk.« less

Analysis of Ag(I) Biocide in Water Samples Using Anodic Stripping Voltammetry with a Boron-Doped Diamond Disk Electrode.

PubMed

Maldonado, Vanessa Y; Espinoza-Montero, Patricio J; Rusinek, Cory A; Swain, Greg M

2018-06-05

The electroanalytical performance of a new commercial boron-doped diamond disk and a traditional nanocrystalline thin-film electrode were compared for the anodic stripping voltammetric determination of Ag(I). The diamond disk electrode is more flexible than the planar film as the former is compatible with most electrochemical cell designs including those incorporating magnetic stirring. Additionally, mechanical polishing and surface cleaning are simpler to execute. Differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) was used to detect Ag(I) in standard solutions after optimization of the deposition potential, deposition time and scan rate. The optimized conditions were used to determine the concentration of Ag(I) in a NASA simulated potable water sample and a NIST standard reference solution. The electrochemical results were validated by ICP-OES measurements of the same solutions. The detection figures of merit for the disk electrode were as good or superior to those for the thin-film electrode. Detection limits were ≤5 μg L -1 (S/N = 3) for a 120 s deposition period, and response variabilities were <5% RSD. The polished disk electrode presented a more limited linear dynamic range presumably because of the reduced surface area available for metal phase formation. The concentrations of Ag(I) in the two water samples, as determined by DPASV, were in good agreement with the concentrations determined by ICP-OES.

Gas lines from the 5-Myr old optically thin disk around HD 141569A . Herschel observations and modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thi, W.-F.; Pinte, C.; Pantin, E.; Augereau, J. C.; Meeus, G.; Ménard, F.; Martin-Zaïdi, C.; Woitke, P.; Riviere-Marichalar, P.; Kamp, I.; Carmona, A.; Sandell, G.; Eiroa, C.; Dent, W.; Montesinos, B.; Aresu, G.; Meijerink, R.; Spaans, M.; White, G.; Ardila, D.; Lebreton, J.; Mendigutía, I.; Brittain, S.

2014-01-01

Context. The gas- and dust dissipation processes in disks around young stars remain uncertain despite numerous studies. At the distance of ~99-116 pc, HD 141569A is one of the nearest HerbigAe stars that is surrounded by a tenuous disk, probably in transition between a massive primordial disk and a debris disk. Atomic and molecular gases have been found in the structured 5-Myr old HD 141569A disk, making HD 141569A the perfect object within which to directly study the gaseous atomic and molecular component. Aims: We wish to constrain the gas and dust mass in the disk around HD 141569A. Methods: We observed the fine-structure lines of O i at 63 and 145 μm and the C ii line at 157 μm with the PACS instrument onboard the Herschel Space Telescope as part of the open-time large program GASPS. We complemented the atomic line observations with archival Spitzer spectroscopic and photometric continuum data, a ground-based VLT-VISIR image at 8.6 μm, and 12CO fundamental ro-vibrational and pure rotational J = 3-2 observations. We simultaneously modeled the continuum emission and the line fluxes with the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code MCFOST and the thermo-chemical code ProDiMo to derive the disk gas- and dust properties assuming no dust settling. Results: The models suggest that the oxygen lines are emitted from the inner disk around HD 141569A, whereas the [C ii] line emission is more extended. The CO submillimeter flux is emitted mostly by the outer disk. Simultaneous modeling of the photometric and line data using a realistic disk structure suggests a dust mass derived from grains with a radius smaller than 1 mm of ~2.1 × 10-7M⊙ and from grains with a radius of up to 1 cm of 4.9 × 10-6M⊙. We constrained the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) mass to be between 2 × 10-11 and 1.4 × 10-10M⊙ assuming circumcircumcoronene (C150H30) as the representative PAH. The associated PAH abundance relative to hydrogen is lower than those found in the interstellar medium (3 × 10-7) by two to three orders of magnitude. The disk around HD 141569A is less massive in gas (2.5 to 4.9 × 10-4M⊙ or 67 to 164 M⊕) and has a flat opening angle (<10%). Conclusions: We constrained simultaneously the silicate dust grain, PAH, and gas mass in a ~5-Myr old Herbig Ae disk. The disk-averaged gas-to-dust-mass is most likely around 100, which is the assumed value at the disk formation despite the uncertainties due to disagreements between the different gas tracers. If the disk was originally massive, the gas and the dust would have dissipated at the same rate. Based on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 079.C-0602(A).Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.orgHerschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by Principal Investigator consortia. It is open for proposals for observing time from the worldwide astronomical community.

Piston manometer as an absolute standard for vacuum-gage calibration in the range 2 to 500 millitorr

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warshawsky, I.

1972-01-01

A thin disk is suspended, with very small annular clearance, in a cylindrical opening in the base plate of a calibration chamber. A continuous flow of calibration gas passes through the chamber and annular opening to a downstream high vacuum pump. The ratio of pressures on the two faces of the disk is very large, so that the upstream pressure is substantially equal to net force on the disk divided by disk area. This force is measured with a dynamometer that is calibrated in place with dead weights. A probable error of + or - (0.2 millitorr plus 0.2 percent) is attainable when downstream pressure is known to 10 percent.

Schemes for efficient QW pumping of AlGaInP disk lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brauch, Uwe; Mateo, Cherry May N.; Kahle, Hermann; Bek, Roman; Jetter, Michael; Abdou Ahmed, Marwan; Michler, Peter; Graf, Thomas

2017-02-01

Keys to high-power operation of disk lasers are a thin active layer, a small Stokes shift and an efficient cooling, best realized with a limited number of QWs which are pumped close to the laser wavelength and which are in close contact with one or two diamond heat sinks. To get sufficient pump absorption many passes of the pump radiation are needed. This can be realized either by taking advantage of intrinsic resonances (designed for the pump radiation) or by an external multi-pass optics (known from Yb disk lasers) or a combination of both. The various options will be discussed and some results for AlGaInP disk lasers will be presented.

The connection between the giant optical outbursts of the flat spectrum radio quasars and the black hole precession

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachev, Rumen

2018-02-01

Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQ) are a part of the blazar family, which in addition to the dominated nonthermal jet emission shows signatures, normally associated with the presence of a standard thin accretion disk, such like thermal continuum and broad emission lines. Furthermore, there is emerging evidence that the FSRQ are more likely to exhibit giant outbursts in the optical, with amplitudes reaching sometimes up to five magnitudes, compared to their quiescent state. We give examples, compiled from the literature and public archives in support of this statement. The most promising mechanism to account for such outbursts appears to be the changing Doppler factor (orientation with respect to the line of sights) of the jet. We attribute such orientation changes of the jet to the presence of misaligned thin accretion disk, leading to a black hole/accretion disk precession. Such a scheme can explain why FSRQ tend to produce large outbursts while other blazar types do not.

Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables: Possibilities for the Presence of Dust in Polars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brinkworth, C. S.; Hoard, D. W.; Wachter, S.; Howell, S. B.; Ciardi, David R.; Szkody, P.; Harrison, T. E.; van Belle, G. T.; Esin, A. A.

2007-04-01

We present Spitzer photometry of six short-period polars, EF Eri, V347 Pav, VV Pup, V834 Cen, GG Leo, and MR Ser. We have combined the Spitzer IRAC (3.6-8.0 μm) data with the 2MASS JHKs photometry to construct the SEDs of these systems from the near- to mid-IR (1.235-8 μm). We find that five out of the six polars have flux densities in the mid-IR that are substantially in excess of the values expected from the stellar components alone. We have modeled the observed SEDs with a combination of contributions from the white dwarf, secondary star, and either cyclotron emission or a cool, circumbinary dust disk to fill in the long-wavelength excess. We find that a circumbinary dust disk is the most likely cause of the 8 μm excess in all cases, but we have been unable to rule out the specific (but unlikely) case of completely optically thin cyclotron emission as the source of the observed 8 μm flux density. While both model components can generate enough flux at 8 μm, neither dust nor cyclotron emission alone can match the excess above the stellar components at all wavelengths. A model combining both cyclotron and dust contributions, possibly with some accretion-generated flux in the near-IR, is probably required, but our observed SEDs are not sufficiently well sampled to constrain such a complicated model. If the 8 μm flux density is caused by the presence of a circumbinary dust disk, then our estimates of the masses of these disks are many orders of magnitude below the mass required to affect CV evolution.

The Dependence of Solar Flare Limb Darkening on Emission Peak Formation Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiemann, Edward; Epp, Luke; Eparvier, Francis; Chamberlin, Phillip C.

2017-08-01

Solar limb effects are local brightening or darkening of an emission that depend on where in the Sun's atmosphere it forms. Near the solar limb, optically thick (thin) emissions will darken (brighten) as the column of absorbers (emitters) along the line-of-sight increases. Note that in limb brightening, emission sources are re-arranged whereas in limb darkening they are obscured. Thus, only limb darkening is expected to occur in disk integrated observations. Limb darkening also results in center-to-limb variations of disk-integrated solar flare spectra, with important consequences for how planetary atmospheres are affected by flares. Flares are typically characterized by their flux in the optically thin 0.1-0.8 nm band measured by the X-ray Sensor (XRS) on board the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). On the other hand, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) line emissions can limb darken because they are sensitive to resonant scattering, resulting in a flare's location on the solar disk controlling the amount of ionizing radiation that reaches a planet. For example, an X-class flare originating from disk center may significantly heat a planet's thermosphere, whereas the same flare originating near the limb may have no effect because much of the effective emissions are scattered in the solar corona.To advance the relatively poor understanding of flare limb darkening, we use over 300 M-class or larger flares observed by the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to characterize limb darkening as a function of emission peak formation temperature, Tf. For hot coronal emissions (Tf>2 MK), these results show a linear relationship between the degree of limb darkening and Tf where lines with Tf=2 MK darken approximately 7 times more than lines with Tf=16 MK. Because the extent of limb darkening is dependent on the height of the source plasma, we use simple Beer-Lambert radiative transfer analysis to interpret these results and characterize the average thermal structure of the flares considered. As such, these results can be used to constrain both empirical flare irradiance models and more sophisticated flare loop hydrodynamic models.

Structural, electronic and chemical properties of metal/oxide and oxide/oxide interfaces and thin film structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lad, Robert J.

1999-12-14

This project focused on three different aspects of oxide thin film systems: (1) Model metal/oxide and oxide/oxide interface studies were carried out by depositing ultra-thin metal (Al, K, Mg) and oxide (MgO, AlO{sub x}) films on TiO{sub 2}, NiO and {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} single crystal oxide substrates. (2) Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) oxygen plasma deposition was used to fabricate AlO{sub 3} and ZrO{sub 2} films on sapphire substrates, and film growth mechanisms and structural characteristics were investigated. (3) The friction and wear characteristics of ZrO{sub 2} films on sapphire substrates in unlubricated sliding contact were studied and correlated with filmmore » microstructure. In these studies, thin film and interfacial regions were characterized using diffraction (RHEED, LEED, XRD), electron spectroscopies (XPS, UPS, AES), microscopy (AFM) and tribology instruments (pin-on-disk, friction microprobe, and scratch tester). By precise control of thin film microstructure, an increased understanding of the structural and chemical stability of interface regions and tribological performance of ultra-thin oxide films was achieved in these important ceramic systems.« less

Foreign Object Damage of Two Gas-Turbine Grade Silicon Nitrides in a Thin Disk Configuration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choi, Sung R.; Pereira, J. Michael; Janosik, Lesley A.; Bhatt, Ramakrishna T.

2003-01-01

Foreign object damage (FOD) behavior of two commercial gas-turbine grade silicon nitrides, AS800 and SN282, was determined at ambient temperature through post-impact strength testing for thin disks impacted by steel-ball projectiles with a diameter of 1.59 mm in a velocity range from 115 to 440 m/s. AS800 silicon nitride exhibited a greater FOD resistance than SN282, primarily due to its greater value of fracture toughness (K(sub IC)). The critical impact velocity in which the corresponding post-impact strength yielded the lowest value was V(sub c) approx. 440 and 300 m/s for AS800 and SN282, respectively. A unique lower-strength regime was typified for both silicon nitrides depending on impact velocity, attributed to significant radial cracking. The damages generated by projectile impact were typically in the forms of ring, radial, and cone cracks with their severity and combination being dependent on impact velocity. Unlike thick (3 mm) flexure bar specimens used in the previous studies, thin (2 mm) disk target specimens exhibited a unique backside radial cracking occurring on the reverse side just beneath the impact sites at and above impact velocity of 160 and 220 m/s for SN282 and AS800, respectively.

Extraordinary light transmission through opaque thin metal film with subwavelength holes blocked by metal disks.

PubMed

Li, Wen-Di; Hu, Jonathan; Chou, Stephen Y

2011-10-10

We observed that when subwavelength-sized holes in an optically opaque metal film are completely covered by opaque metal disks larger than the holes, the light transmission through the holes is not reduced, but rather enhanced. Particularly we report (i) the observation of light transmission through the holes blocked by the metal disks up to 70% larger than the unblocked holes; (ii) the observation of tuning the light transmission by varying the coupling strength between the blocking disks and the hole array, or by changing the size of the disks and holes; (iii) the observation and simulation that the metal disk blocker can improve light coupling from free space to a subwavelength hole; and (iv) the simulation that shows the light transmission through subwavelength holes can be enhanced, even though the gap between the disk and the metal film is partially connected with a metal. We believe these finding should have broad and significant impacts and applications to optical systems in many fields.

Lubricant distribution and its effect on slider air bearing performance over bit patterned media disk of disk drives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Lin

2011-04-01

The distribution dynamics of a thin lubricant film on a bit-patterned media disk and its effect on the performance of the ultralow flying air bearing slider of disk drives are studied by direct numerical simulations. Our analysis shows that the physics governing lubricant distribution dynamics changes when deep enough sub-100-nm nanostructures are patterned on the disk surface. Air shearing under the slider that dominates lubricant flow on a flat disk may become negligible on a bit-patterned media disk. Surface tension and disjoining pressure become dominant factors instead. Our results show that disks with nanoscale patterns/roughness may no longer be treated as flat, and the air bearing load may strongly depend not only on the geometric detail of disk patterns but also on how lubricants are distributed on the patterns when slider-disk clearance is reduced to sub-10-nm. Air bearing load and consequently the slider's flying attitude are affected by disk pattern geometry, average lubricant thickness, and material properties of lubricant such as the surface tension coefficient and Hamaker constant. The significantly expanded parameter space, upon which ultralow flying slider's dynamics depends, has to be seriously considered in evaluating the head/disk interface tribology performance of next generation patterned media magnetic recording systems.

Thermal Disk Winds in X-Ray Binaries: Realistic Heating and Cooling Rates Give Rise to Slow, but Massive, Outflows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higginbottom, N.; Proga, D.; Knigge, C.; Long, K. S.

2017-02-01

A number of X-ray binaries exhibit clear evidence for the presence of disk winds in the high/soft state. A promising driving mechanism for these outflows is mass loss driven by the thermal expansion of X-ray heated material in the outer disk atmosphere. Higginbottom & Proga recently demonstrated that the properties of thermally driven winds depend critically on the shape of the thermal equilibrium curve, since this determines the thermal stability of the irradiated material. For a given spectral energy distribution, the thermal equilibrium curve depends on an exact balance between the various heating and cooling mechanisms at work. Most previous work on thermally driven disk winds relied on an analytical approximation to these rates. Here, we use the photoionization code cloudy to generate realistic heating and cooling rates which we then use in a 2.5D hydrodynamic model computed in ZEUS to simulate thermal winds in a typical black hole X-ray binary. We find that these heating and cooling rates produce a significantly more complex thermal equilibrium curve, with dramatically different stability properties. The resulting flow, calculated in the optically thin limit, is qualitatively different from flows calculated using approximate analytical rates. Specifically, our thermal disk wind is much denser and slower, with a mass-loss rate that is a factor of two higher and characteristic velocities that are a factor of three lower. The low velocity of the flow—{v}\\max ≃ 200 km s-1—may be difficult to reconcile with observations. However, the high mass-loss rate—15 × the accretion rate—is promising, since it has the potential to destabilize the disk. Thermally driven disk winds may therefore provide a mechanism for state changes.

Formation of Large Regular Satellites of Giant Planets in an Extended Gaseous Nebula. 2; Satellite Migration And Survival

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mosqueira, I.; Estrada, P. R.

2000-01-01

Using an optically thick inner disk and an extended, optically thin outer disk as described in Mosqueira and Estrada, we compute the torque as a function of position in the subnebula, and show that although the torque exerted on the satellite is generally negative, which leads to inward migration as expected, there are regions of the disk where the torque is positive. For our model these regions of positive torque correspond roughly to the locations of Callisto and Iapetus. Though the outer location of zero torque depends on the (unknown) size of the transition region between the inner and outer disks, the result that Saturn's is found much farther out (at approximately 3r(sub c, sup S) where r(sub c, sup S) is Saturn's centrifugal radius) than Jupiter's (at approximately 2r(sub c, sup J), where r(sub c, sup J) is Jupiter's centrifugal radius) is mostly due to Saturn's less massive outer disk, and larger Hill radius. For a satellite to survive in the disk the timescale of satellite migration must be longer than the timescale for gas dissipation. For large satellites (approximately 1000 km) migration is dominated by the gas torque. We consider the possibility that the feedback reaction of the gas disk caused by the redistribution of gas surface density around satellites with masses larger than the inertial mass causes a large drop in the drift velocity of such objects, thus improving the likelihood that they will be left stranded following gas dissipation. We adapt the inviscid inertial mass criterion to include gas drag, and m-dependent non-local deposition of angular momentum.

Discovery of a Three-Layered Atmospheric Structure in Accretion Disks around Stellar-Mass Black Holes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, S. N.; Zhang, Xiaoling; Sun, Xuejun; Yao, Yangsen; Cui, Wei; Chen, Wan; Wu, Xuebing; Xu, Haiguang

1999-01-01

We have carried out systematic modeling of the X-ray spectra of the Galactic superluminal jet sources GRS 1915+105 and GRO J1655-40, using our newly developed spectral fitting methods. Our results reveal, for the first time, a three-layered structure of the atmosphere in the inner region of the accretion disks. Above the conanonly known, cold and optically thick disk of a blackbody temperature 0.2-0.5 keV, there is a layer of warm gas with a temperature of 1.0-1.5 keV and an optical depth of around 10. Compton scattering of the underlying disk blackbody photons produces the soft X-ray component we comonly observe. Under certain conditions, there is also a much hotter, optically thin corona above the warm layer, characterized by a temperature of 100 keV or higher and an optical depth of unity or less. The corona produces the hard X-ray component typically seen in these sources. We emphasize that the existence of the warm layer seem to be independent of the presence of the hot corona and, therefore, it is not due to irradiation of the disk by hard X-rays from the corona. Our results suggest a striking structural similarity between the accretion disks and the solar atmosphere, which may provide a new stimulus to study the common underlying physical processes operating in these vastly different systems. We also report the first unambiguous detection of an emission line around 6.4 keV in GRO J1655-40, which may allow further constraining of the accretion disk structure. We acknowledge NASA GSFC and MFC for partial financial support. (copyright) 1999: American Astronomical Society. All rights reverved.

Global Evolution of an Accretion Disk with a Net Vertical Field: Coronal Accretion, Flux Transport, and Disk Winds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Zhaohuan; Stone, James M.

2018-04-01

We report results from global ideal MHD simulations that study thin accretion disks (with thermal scale height H/R = 0.1 and 0.05) threaded by net vertical magnetic fields. Our computations span three orders of magnitude in radius, extend all the way to the pole, and are evolved for more than 1000 innermost orbits. We find that (1) inward accretion occurs mostly in the upper magnetically dominated regions of the disk at z ∼ R, similar to predictions from some previous analytical work and the “coronal accretion” flows found in GRMHD simulations. (2) A quasi-static global field geometry is established in which flux transport by inflows at the surface is balanced by turbulent diffusion. The resulting field is strongly pinched inwards at the surface. A steady-state advection–diffusion model, with a turbulent magnetic Prandtl number of order unity, reproduces this geometry well. (3) Weak unsteady disk winds are launched beyond the disk corona with the Alfvén radius R A /R 0 ∼ 3. Although the surface inflow is filamentary and the wind is episodic, we show that the time-averaged properties are well-described by steady-wind theory. Even with strong fields, β 0 = 103 at the midplane initially, only 5% of the angular momentum transport is driven by the wind, and the wind mass flux from the inner decade of the radius is only ∼0.4% of the mass accretion rate. (4) Within the disk, most of the accretion is driven by the Rϕ stress from the MRI and global magnetic fields. Our simulations have many applications to astrophysical accretion systems.

RESOLVED CO GAS INTERIOR TO THE DUST RINGS OF THE HD 141569 DISK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Flaherty, Kevin M.; Hughes, A. Meredith; Zachary, Julia

2016-02-10

The disk around HD 141569 is one of a handful of systems whose weak infrared emission is consistent with a debris disk, but still has a significant reservoir of gas. Here we report spatially resolved millimeter observations of the CO(3-2) and CO(1-0) emission as seen with the Submillimeter Array and CARMA. We find that the excitation temperature for CO is lower than expected from cospatial blackbody grains, similar to previous observations of analogous systems, and derive a gas mass that lies between that of gas-rich primordial disks and gas-poor debris disks. The data also indicate a large inner hole inmore » the CO gas distribution and an outer radius that lies interior to the outer scattered light rings. This spatial distribution, with the dust rings just outside the gaseous disk, is consistent with the expected interactions between gas and dust in an optically thin disk. This indicates that gas can have a significant effect on the location of the dust within debris disks.« less

Finite-element analysis of vibrational modes in piezoelectric ceramic disks.

PubMed

Kunkel, H A; Locke, S; Pikeroen, B

1990-01-01

The natural vibrational modes of axially symmetric piezoelectric ceramic disks have been calculated by the finite-element method. The disks are of the type used as active elements in compressional wave ultrasonic transducers, and are electrically polarized in thickness with full electrodes on the disk's major faces. To optimize disk geometry for ultrasonic transducer application, the dependence of the vibrational modes on the disk diameter-to-thickness ratio for ratios from 0.2 (a tall cylinder) to 10.0 (a thin disk) has been studied. Series and parallel resonance frequencies for each of the modes are determined through an eigenfrequency analysis, and effective electromechanical coupling coefficients are calculated. The modal displacement fields in the disk are calculated to determine the physical nature of each mode. An analysis of the complete spectrum of piezoelectrically active modes as a function of diameter-thickness ratio is presented for the ceramic PZT-5H, including and identification of radial, edge, length expander, thickness shear, and thickness extensional vibrations. From this analysis, optimal diameter-to-thickness ratios for good transducer performance are discussed.

The radar cross section of dielectric disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, D. M.

1982-01-01

A solution is presented for the backscatter (nonstatic) radar cross section of dielectric disks of arbitrary shape, thickness and dielectric constant. The result is obtained by employing a Kirchhoff type approximation to obtain the fields inside the disk. The internal fields induce polarization and conduction currents from which the scattered fields and the radar cross section can be computed. The solution for the radar cross section obtained in this manner is shown to agree with known results in the special cases of normal incidence, thin disks and perfect conductivity. The solution can also be written as a product of the reflection coefficient of an identically oriented slab times the physical optics solution for the backscatter cross section of a perfectly conducting disk of the same shape. This result follows directly from the Kirchhoff type approximation without additional assumptions.

High-field magnets using high-critical-temperature superconducting thin films

DOEpatents

Mitlitsky, F.; Hoard, R.W.

1994-05-10

High-field magnets fabricated from high-critical-temperature superconducting ceramic (HTSC) thin films which can generate fields greater than 4 Tesla are disclosed. The high-field magnets are made of stackable disk-shaped substrates coated with HTSC thin films, and involves maximizing the critical current density, superconducting film thickness, number of superconducting layers per substrate, substrate diameter, and number of substrates while minimizing substrate thickness. The HTSC thin films are deposited on one or both sides of the substrates in a spiral configuration with variable line widths to increase the field. 4 figures.

High-field magnets using high-critical-temperature superconducting thin films

DOEpatents

Mitlitsky, Fred; Hoard, Ronald W.

1994-01-01

High-field magnets fabricated from high-critical-temperature superconducting ceramic (HTSC) thin films which can generate fields greater than 4 Tesla. The high-field magnets are made of stackable disk-shaped substrates coated with HTSC thin films, and involves maximizing the critical current density, superconducting film thickness, number of superconducting layers per substrate, substrate diameter, and number of substrates while minimizing substrate thickness. The HTSC thin films are deposited on one or both sides of the substrates in a spiral configuration with variable line widths to increase the field.

Galactic disks, infall, and the global value of Omega

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toth, G.; Ostriker, J. P.

1992-01-01

Stringent limits on the current rate of infall of satellite systems onto spiral galaxies are set on the basis of the thinness and coldness of Galactic disks. For infalling satellites on isotropically oriented circular orbits, it is shown that, due to scattering, the thermal energy gain of the disk exceeds the satellite energy loss from dynamical friction by a factor of 1.6, with 25 percent deposited in z motion and 75 percent in planar motions. It is found that no more than 4 percent of the Galactic mass inside the solar radius can have accreted within the last 5 billion years, or else its scale and its Toomre Q-parameter would exceed observed values. In standard cold-dark-matter-dominated models for the growth of structure with Omega sub tot of 1, the mass accreted in dark matter lumps rises faster than t exp 2/3 and would exceed 28 percent in the last 5 Gyr. It is proposed that heating from satellite infall accounts for a substantial fraction of the increase of velocity dispersion and scale height with age that is observed in the Galaxy.

Fabrication of Natural Uranium UO 2 Disks (Phase II): Texas A&M Work for Others Summary Document

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gerczak, Tyler J.; Baldwin, Charles A.; Schmidlin, Joshua E.

The steps to fabricate natural UO 2 disks for an irradiation campaign led by Texas A&M University are outlined. The process was initiated with stoichiometry adjustment of parent, U 3O 8 powder. The next stage of sample preparation involved exploratory pellet pressing and sintering to achieve the desired natural UO 2 pellet densities. Ideal densities were achieved through the use of a bimodal powder size blend. The steps involved with disk fabrication are also presented, describing the coring and thinning process executed to achieve final dimensionality.

The radial-azimuthal stability of accretion disks - Gas pressure contributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckee, M. R.

1991-01-01

A radial-azimuthal stability analysis of a thin, alpha disk accretion flow is presented. The proportion of radiation pressure, Pr, of the unperturbed flow is allowed to vary according to the parameter beta = Pr/P, where P is the total pressure. As is the case for a purely radial analysis, the disk is stable for beta equal to or less than 0.6. However, the coupling of radial and azimuthal perturbations eliminates the viscous instability for such nonradial modes for all values of beta. The group velocity of the retrograde thermal mode is calculated as a function of beta.

THE VVV SURVEY REVEALS CLASSICAL CEPHEIDS TRACING A YOUNG AND THIN STELLAR DISK ACROSS THE GALAXY’S BULGE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dékány, I.; Minniti, D.; Majaess, D.

2015-10-20

Solid insight into the physics of the inner Milky Way is key to understanding our Galaxy’s evolution, but extreme dust obscuration has historically hindered efforts to map the area along the Galactic mid-plane. New comprehensive near-infrared time-series photometry from the VVV Survey has revealed 35 classical Cepheids, tracing a previously unobserved component of the inner Galaxy, namely a ubiquitous inner thin disk of young stars along the Galactic mid-plane, traversing across the bulge. The discovered period (age) spread of these classical Cepheids implies a continuous supply of newly formed stars in the central region of the Galaxy over the lastmore » 100 million years.« less

pH matters: The influence of the catalyst ink on the oxygen reduction activity determined in thin film rotating disk electrode measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inaba, Masanori; Quinson, Jonathan; Arenz, Matthias

2017-06-01

We investigated the influence of the ink properties of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) catalysts on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity determined in thin film rotating disk electrode (TF-RDE) measurements. It was found that the adaption of a previously reported ink recipe to home-made catalysts does not lead to satisfying results, although reported work could be reproduced using commercial catalyst samples. It is demonstrated that the pH of the catalyst ink, which has not been addressed in previous TF-RDE studies, is an important parameter that needs to be carefully controlled to determine the intrinsic ORR activity of high surface area catalysts.

A compact Nd:YAG DPSSL using diamond-cooled technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chou, Hsian P.; Wang, Yu-Lin; Hasson, Victor H.; Trainor, Daniel W.

2005-03-01

In our diamond-cooled approach, thin disks of laser gain material, e.g., Nd:YAG, are alternated between thin disks of single crystal synthetic diamond whose heat conductivity is over 2000 W/m-°K. The gain medium is face-pumped (along the optical axis) by the output of laser diode arrays. This optical configuration produces heat transfer from Nd:YAG to the diamond, in the direction of the optical axis, and then heat is rapidly conducted radially outward through the diamond to the cooling fluid circulating at the circumference of the diamond/YAG assembly. This geometry effectively removes the heat from the gain material in a manner that permits the attainment of high power output with excellent beam quality.

Optical, near, infrared and ultraviolet monitoring of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Markarian 335

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shrader, Chris R.; Sun, W.-H.; Turner, T. J.; Hintzen, P. M.

1990-01-01

Preliminary results of a multifrequency monitoring campaign for the bright, Seyfert 1 galactic nuclei Mkn335 are presented. Nearly uniform sampling at 3 day intervals is achieved quasi simultaneously at each wavelength band. Wavelength dependent variability is seen at the 20 to 30 percent level. Interpretation of variability in terms of geometrically thin, optically thick accretion disk models is discussed. The inferred blackhole masses and accretion rates are discussed. Possible correlation between continuum and emission line variations is discussed.

Lunar and Meteorite Thin Sections for Undergraduate and Graduate Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, J.; Allen, C.

2012-12-01

The Johnson Space Center (JSC) has the unique responsibility to curate NASA's extraterrestrial samples from past and future missions. Curation includes documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples for research, education, and public outreach. Studies of rock and soil samples from the Moon and meteorites continue to yield useful information about the early history of the Moon, the Earth, and the inner solar system. Petrographic Thin Section Packages containing polished thin sections of samples from either the Lunar or Meteorite collections have been prepared. Each set of twelve sections of Apollo lunar samples or twelve sections of meteorites is available for loan from JSC. The thin sections sets are designed for use in domestic college and university courses in petrology. The loan period is very strict and limited to two weeks. Contact Ms. Mary Luckey, Education Sample Curator. Email address: mary.k.luckey@nasa.gov Each set of slides is accompanied by teaching materials and a sample disk of representative lunar or meteorite samples. It is important to note that the samples in these sets are not exactly the same as the ones listed here. This list represents one set of samples. A key education resource available on the Curation website is Antarctic Meteorite Teaching Collection: Educational Meteorite Thin Sections, originally compiled by Bevan French, Glenn McPherson, and Roy Clarke and revised by Kevin Righter in 2010. Curation Websites College and university staff and students are encouraged to access the Lunar Petrographic Thin Section Set Publication and the Meteorite Petrographic Thin Section Package Resource which feature many thin section images and detailed descriptions of the samples, research results. http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/Education/index.cfm Request research samples: http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/ JSC-CURATION-EDUCATION-DISKS@mail.nasa.govLunar Thin Sections; Meteorite Thin Sections;

PLANET SHADOWS IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS. II. OBSERVABLE SIGNATURES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jang-Condell, Hannah

2009-07-20

We calculate simulated images of disks perturbed by embedded small planets. These 10-50 M{sub +} bodies represent the growing cores of giant planets. We examine scattered light and thermal emission from these disks over a range of wavelengths, taking into account the wavelength-dependent opacity of dust in the disk. We also examine the effect of inclination on the observed perturbations. We find that the perturbations are best observed in the visible to mid-infrared (mid-IR). Scattered light images reflect shadows produced at the surface of perturbed disks, while the infrared images follow thermal emission from the surface of the disk, showingmore » cooled/heated material in the shadowed/brightened regions. At still longer wavelengths in the submillimeter, the perturbation fades as the disk becomes optically thin and surface features become overwhelmed by emission closer toward the midplane of the disk. With the construction of telescopes such as TMT, GMT, and ALMA due in the next decade, there is a real possibility of observing planets forming in disks in the optical and submillimeter. However, having the angular resolution to observe the features in the mid-IR will remain a challenge.« less

The HIP 79977 debris disk in polarized light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engler, N.; Schmid, H. M.; Thalmann, Ch.; Boccaletti, A.; Bazzon, A.; Baruffolo, A.; Beuzit, J. L.; Claudi, R.; Costille, A.; Desidera, S.; Dohlen, K.; Dominik, C.; Feldt, M.; Fusco, T.; Ginski, C.; Gisler, D.; Girard, J. H.; Gratton, R.; Henning, T.; Hubin, N.; Janson, M.; Kasper, M.; Kral, Q.; Langlois, M.; Lagadec, E.; Ménard, F.; Meyer, M. R.; Milli, J.; Mouillet, D.; Olofsson, J.; Pavlov, A.; Pragt, J.; Puget, P.; Quanz, S. P.; Roelfsema, R.; Salasnich, B.; Siebenmorgen, R.; Sissa, E.; Suarez, M.; Szulagyi, J.; Turatto, M.; Udry, S.; Wildi, F.

2017-11-01

Context. Debris disks are observed around 10 to 20% of FGK main-sequence stars as infrared excess emission. They are important signposts for the presence of colliding planetesimals and therefore provide important information about the evolution of planetary systems. Direct imaging of such disks reveals their geometric structure and constrains their dust-particle properties. Aims: We present observations of the known edge-on debris disk around HIP 79977 (HD 146897) taken with the ZIMPOL differential polarimeter of the SPHERE instrument. We measure the observed polarization signal and investigate the diagnostic potential of such data with model simulations. Methods: SPHERE-ZIMPOL polarimetric data of the 15 Myr-old F star HIP 79977 (Upper Sco, 123 pc) were taken in the Very Broad Band (VBB) filter (λc = 735 nm, Δλ = 290 nm) with a spatial resolution of about 25 mas. Imaging polarimetry efficiently suppresses the residual speckle noise from the AO system and provides a differential signal with relatively small systematic measuring uncertainties. We measure the polarization flux along and perpendicular to the disk spine of the highly inclined disk for projected separations between 0.2'' (25 AU) and 1.6'' (200 AU). We perform model calculations for the polarized flux of an optically thin debris disk which are used to determine or constrain the disk parameters of HIP 79977. Results: We measure a polarized flux contrast ratio for the disk of (Fpol)disk/F∗ = (5.5 ± 0.9) × 10-4 in the VBB filter. The surface brightness of the polarized flux reaches a maximum of SBmax = 16.2 mag arcsec-2 at a separation of 0.2''-0.5'' along the disk spine with a maximum surface brightness contrast of 7.64 mag arcsec-2. The polarized flux has a minimum near the star <0.2'' because no or only little polarization is produced by forward or backward scattering in the disk section lying in front of or behind the star. The width of the disk perpendicular to the spine shows a systematic increase in FWHM from 0.1'' (12 AU) to 0.3''-0.5'', when going from a separation of 0.2'' to >1''. This can be explained by a radial blow-out of small grains. The data are modelled as a circular dust belt with a well defined disk inclination I = 85( ± 1.5)° and a radius between r0 = 60 and 90 AU. The radial density dependence is described by (r/r0)α with a steep (positive) power law index α = 5 inside r0 and a more shallow (negative) index α = -2.5 outside r0. The scattering asymmetry factor lies between g = 0.2 and 0.6 (forward scattering) adopting a scattering-angle dependence for the fractional polarization such as that for Rayleigh scattering. Conclusions: Polarimetric imaging with SPHERE-ZIMPOL of the edge-on debris disk around HIP 79977 provides accurate profiles for the polarized flux. Our data are qualitatively very similar to the case of AU Mic and they confirm that edge-on debris disks have a polarization minimum at a position near the star and a maximum near the projected separation of the main debris belt. The comparison of the polarized flux contrast ratio (Fpol)disk/F∗ with the fractional infrared excess provides strong constraints on the scattering albedo of the dust.

Head-disk interface nanotribology for Tbit/inch2 recording densities: near-contact and contact recording

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vakis, Antonis I.; Polycarpou, Andreas A.

2010-06-01

In the effort to achieve Tbit/inch2 recording densities, thermal fly-height control (TFC) nanotechnology was developed to effectively reduce the clearance (which is of the order of a few nanometres) at the head-disk interface (HDI) of hard-disk drives. In this work, we present a model of the HDI that can predict the dynamic flying and nanotribological contacting behaviour, allowing for accurate predictions and characterization of the operating regime as a function of TFC actuation. A geometric model for TFC is presented and an improved definition of contact at the interface is developed in the presence of nanoscale topographical roughness and dynamic microwaviness. A new methodology is proposed for the calculation of the nominal area of contact, which affects both near- and at-contact behaviour, while the stiffening of the air bearing force with TFC actuation is also accounted for. Slider behaviour is analysed by quantifying the approach, jump-to-contact, lubricant and solid contact regimes of operation and identifying the critical and optimum TFC actuations. The feasibility of near-contact, light molecularly thin lubricant contact versus solid contact recording is explored under the effect of the interfacial forces and stresses present at the HDI. The clearance and the state of vibrations are analysed and design guidelines are proposed for improved performance.

Investigation of low-latitude hydrogen emission in terms of a two-component interstellar gas model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, P. L.; Burton, W. B.

1975-01-01

High-resolution 21-cm hydrogen line observations at low galactic latitude are analyzed to determine the large-scale distribution of galactic hydrogen. Distribution parameters are found by model fitting, optical depth effects are computed using a two-component gas model suggested by the observations, and calculations are made for a one-component uniform spin-temperature gas model to show the systematic departures between this model and data obtained by incorrect treatment of the optical depth effects. Synthetic 21-cm line profiles are computed from the two-component model, and the large-scale trends of the observed emission profiles are reproduced together with the magnitude of the small-scale emission irregularities. Values are determined for the thickness of the galactic hydrogen disk between half density points, the total observed neutral hydrogen mass of the galaxy, and the central number density of the intercloud hydrogen atoms. It is shown that typical hydrogen clouds must be between 1 and 13 pc in diameter and that optical thinness exists on large-scale despite the presence of optically thin gas.

Analysis of gas absorption to a thin liquid film in the presence of a zero-order chemical reaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajagopalan, S.; Rahman, M. M.

1995-01-01

The paper presents a detailed theoretical analysis of the process of gas absorption to a thin liquid film adjacent to a horizontal rotating disk. The film is formed by the impingement of a controlled liquid jet at the center of the disk and subsequent radial spreading of liquid along the disk. The chemical reaction between the gas and the liquid film can be expressed as a zero-order homogeneous reaction. The process was modeled by establishing equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, and species concentration and solving them analytically. A scaling analysis was used to determine dominant transport processes. Appropriate boundary conditions were used to solve these equations to develop expressions for the local concentration of gas across the thickness of the film and distributions of film height, bulk concentration, and Sherwood number along the radius of the disk. The partial differential equation for species concentration was solved using the separation of variables technique along with the Duhamel's theorem and the final analytical solution was expressed using confluent hypergeometric functions. Tables for eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are presented for a number of reaction rate constants. A parametric study was performed using Reynolds number, Ekman number, and dimensionless reaction rate as parameters. At all radial locations, Sherwood number increased with Reynolds number (flow rate) as well as Ekman number (rate of rotation). The enhancement of mass transfer due to chemical reaction was found to be small when compared to the case of no reaction (pure absorption), but the enhancement factor was very significant when compared to pure absorption in a stagnant liquid film. The zero-order reaction processes considered in the present investigation included the absorption of oxygen in aqueous alkaline solutions of sodiumdithionite and rhodium complex catalyzed carbonylation of methanol. Present analytical results were compared to previous theoretical results for limiting conditions, and were found to have very good agreement.

The standard model and some new directions. [for scientific theory of Active Galactic Nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blandford, R. D.; Rees, M. J.

1992-01-01

A 'standard' model of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), based upon a massive black hole surrounded by a thin accretion disk, is defined. It is argued that, although there is good evidence for the presence of black holes and orbiting gas, most of the details of this model are either inadequate or controversial. Magnetic field may be responsible for the confinement of continuum and line-emitting gas, for the dynamical evolution of accretion disks and for the formation of jets. It is further argued that gaseous fuel is supplied in molecular form and that this is responsible for thermal re-radiation, equatorial obscuration and, perhaps, the broad line gas clouds. Stars may also supply gas close to the black hole, especially in low power AGN and they may be observable in discrete orbits as probes of the gravitational field. Recent observations suggest that magnetic field, stars, dusty molecular gas and orientation effects must be essential components of a complete description of AGN. The discovery of quasars with redshifts approaching 5 is an important clue to the mechanism of galaxy formation.

The gravitational potential due to uniform disks and rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lass, H.; Blitzer, L.

1983-07-01

The gravitational potential of bodies possessing axial symmetry can be expressed as a power series in distance, with the Legendre polynomials as coefficients. Such series, however, converge so slowly in the neighborhood of thin, uniform disks and rings that too many series terms must be summed in order to obtain an accurate field measure. A gravitational potential expression is presently obtained in closed form, in terms of complete elliptic integrals.

A Layered Solution for Supercomputing Storage

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grider, Gary

To solve the supercomputing challenge of memory keeping up with processing speed, a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed two innovative memory management and storage technologies. Burst buffers peel off data onto flash memory to support the checkpoint/restart paradigm of large simulations. MarFS adds a thin software layer enabling a new tier for campaign storage—based on inexpensive, failure-prone disk drives—between disk drives and tape archives.

Magnetic fields in spiral galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krause, Marita

2015-03-01

The magnetic field structure in edge-on galaxies observed so far shows a plane-parallel magnetic field component in the disk of the galaxy and an X-shaped field in its halo. The plane-parallel field is thought to be the projected axisymmetric (ASS) disk field as observed in face-on galaxies. Some galaxies addionionally exhibit strong vertical magnetic fields in the halo right above and below the central region of the disk. The mean-field dynamo theory in the disk cannot explain these observed fields without the action of a wind, which also probably plays an important role to keep the vertical scale heights constant in galaxies of different Hubble types and star formation activities, as has been observed in the radio continuum: At λ6 cm the vertical scale heights of the thin disk and the thick disk/halo in a sample of five edge-on galaxies are similar with a mean value of 300 +/- 50 pc for the thin disk and 1.8 +/- 0.2 kpc for the thick disk (a table and references are given in Krause 2011) with our sample including the brightest halo observed so far, NGC 253, with strong star formation, as well as one of the weakest halos, NGC 4565, with weak star formation. If synchrotron emission is the dominant loss process of the relativistic electrons the outer shape of the radio emission should be dumbbell-like as has been observed in several edge-on galaxies like e.g. NGC 253 (Heesen et al. 2009) and NGC 4565. As the synchrotron lifetime t syn at a single frequency is proportional to the total magnetic field strength B t -1.5, a cosmic ray bulk speed (velocity of a galactic wind) can be defined as v CR = h CR /t syn = 2 h z /t syn , where h CR and h z are the scale heights of the cosmic rays and the observed radio emission at this freqnency. Similar observed radio scale heights imply a self regulation mechanism between the galactic wind velocity, the total magnetic field strength and the star formation rate SFR in the disk: v CR ~ B t 1.5 ~ SFR ~ 0.5 (Niklas & Beck 1997).

The magnetic properties and microstructure of Co-Pt thin films using wet etching process.

PubMed

Lee, Chang-Hyoung; Cho, Young-Lae; Lee, Won-Pyo; Suh, Su-Jeong

2014-11-01

Perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) is a promising candidate for high density magnetic recording and has already been applied to hard disk drive (HDD) systems. However, media noise still limits the recording density. To reduce the media noise and achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in hard disk media, the grains of the magnetic layer must be magnetically isolated from each other. This study examined whether sputter-deposited Co-Pt thin films can have adjacent grains that are physically isolated. To accomplish this, the effects of the sputtering conditions and wet etching process on magnetic properties and the microstructure of the films were investigated. The film structure was Co-Pt (30 nm)/Ru (30 nm)/NiFe (10 nm)/Ta (5 nm). The composition of the Co-Pt thin films was Co-30.7 at.% Pt. The Co-Pt thin films were deposited in Ar gas at 5, 10, 12.5, and 15 mTorr. Wet etching process was performed using 7% nitric acid solution at room temperature. These films had high out-of-plane coercivity of up to 7032 Oe, which is twice that of the as-deposited film. These results suggest that wet etched Co-Pt thin films have weaker exchange coupling and enhanced out-of-plane coercivity, which would reduce the medium noise.

The End of Protoplanetary Disk Evolution: An ALMA Survey of Upper Scorpius

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barenfeld, Scott A.; Carpenter, John M.; Sargent, Anneila I.; Ricci, Luca; Isella, Andrea

2017-01-01

The evolution of the mass of solids in circumstellar disks is a key factor in determining how planets form. Infrared observations have established that the dust in primordial disks vanishes around the majority of stars by an age of 5-10 Myr. However, how this disappearance proceeds is poorly constrained. Only with longer wavelength observations, where the dust emission is optically thin, is it possible to measure disk dust mass and how it varies as a function of age. To this end, we have obtained ALMA 0.88 mm observations of over 100 sources with suspected circumstellar disks in the Upper Scorpius OB Association (Upper Sco). The 5-11 Myr age of Upper Sco suggests that any such disks will be quite evolved, making this association an ideal target to compare to systems of younger disks in order to study evolution. With ALMA, we achieve an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over previous (sub)millimeter surveys of Upper Sco and detect 58 disks in the continuum. We calculate the total dust masses of these disks and compare their masses to those of younger disks in Taurus, Lupus, and Chamaeleon. We find strong evidence for a decline in disk dust mass between these 1-3 Myr old systems and the 5-11 Myr old Upper Sco. Our results represent the first definitive measurement of a decline in disk dust mass with age.

A close look into the carbon disk at the core of the planetary nebula CPD-56°8032

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chesneau, O.; Collioud, A.; De Marco, O.; Wolf, S.; Lagadec, E.; Zijlstra, A. A.; Rothkopf, A.; Acker, A.; Clayton, G. C.; Lopez, B.

2006-09-01

Aims.We present high spatial resolution observations of the dusty core of the Planetary Nebula with Wolf-Rayet central star CPD-56°8032, for which indications of a compact disk have been found by HST/SITS observations. Methods: .These observations were taken with the mid-infrared interferometer VLTI/MIDI in imaging mode providing a typical 300 mas resolution and in interferometric mode using UT2-UT3 47m baseline providing a typical spatial resolution of 20 mas. We also made use of unpublished HST/ACS images in the F435W and F606W filters. Results: .The visible HST images exhibit a complex multilobal geometry dominated by faint lobes. The farthest structures are located at 7 arcsec from the star. The mid-IR environment of CPD-56°8032 is dominated by a compact source, barely resolved by a single UT telescope in a 8.7 μm filter (Δ λ=1.6~μm, contaminated by PAH emission). The infrared core is almost fully resolved with the three 40-45 m projected baselines ranging from -5° to 51° but smooth oscillating fringes at low level have been detected in spectrally dispersed visibilities. This clear signal is interpreted in terms of a ring structure which would define the bright inner rim of the equatorial disk. Geometric models allowed us to derive the main geometrical parameters of the disk. For instance, a reasonably good fit is reached with an achromatic and elliptical truncated Gaussian with a radius of 97±11 AU, an inclination of 28±7° and a PA for the major axis at 345° ±7°. Furthermore, we performed some radiative transfer modeling aimed at further constraining the geometry and mass content of the disk, by taking into account the MIDI dispersed visibilities, spectra, and the large aperture SED of the source. These models show that the disk is mostly optically thin in the N band and highly flared. As a consequence of the complex flux distribution, an edge-on inclination is not excluded by the data.

Micromachined Active Magnetic Regenerator for Low-Temperature Magnetic Coolers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Weibo; Jaeger, Michael D.

2013-01-01

A design of an Active Magnetic Regenerative Refrigeration (AMRR) system has been developed for space applications. It uses an innovative 3He cryogenic circulator to provide continuous remote/distributed cooling at temperatures in the range of 2 K with a heat sink at about 15 K. A critical component technology for this cooling system is a highly efficient active magnetic regenerator, which is a regenerative heat exchanger with its matrix material made of magnetic refrigerant gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG). Creare Inc. is developing a microchannel GGG regenerator with an anisotropic structured bed for high system thermal efficiency. The regenerator core consists of a stack of thin, single-crystal GGG disks alternating with thin polymer insulating layers. The insulating layers help minimize the axial conduction heat leak, since GGG has a very high thermal conductivity in the regenerator s operating temperature range. The GGG disks contain micro channels with width near 100 micrometers, which enhance the heat transfer between the circulating flow and the refrigerant bed. The unique flow configuration of the GGG plates ensures a uniform flow distribution across the plates. The main fabrication challenges for the regenerator are the machining of high-aspect-ratio microchannels in fragile, single-crystal GGG disks and fabrication and assembly of the GGG insulation layers. Feasibility demonstrations to date include use of an ultrashort- pulse laser to machine microchannels without producing unacceptable microcracking or deposition of recast material, as shown in the figure, and attachment of a thin insulation layer to a GGG disk without obstructing the flow paths. At the time of this reporting, efforts were focused on improving the laser machining process to increase machining speed and further reduce microcracking.

Short-period cataclysmic variables at Observatorio Astronomico Nacional IA UNAM.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zharikov, S.

2014-03-01

We present results of time-resolved spectroscopy and photometry of faint (∼17-19 mag) Cataclysmic Variable stars with periods around the minimum orbital period (∼80 min). In this work we concentrated to our results of study of CVs systems which have evolved beyond the period minimum (so-called bounce-back systems). Using various instruments attached to 2.1m, 1.5m and 0.84m telescopes of OAN SPM of IA UNAM we explored conditions and structure of accretion disks in those short-period Cataclysmic Variables. We showed that the accretion disk in a system with an extremely low mass ratio (≤0.05) grows in the size reaching 2:1 resonance radius and is relatively cool. The disk in such systems also becomes largely optically thin in the continuum, contributing to the total flux less than the stellar components of the system. In contrast, the viscosity and the temperature in spiral arms formed at the outer edge of the disk are higher and their contribution in continuum plays an increasingly important role. We model such disks and generate light curves which successfully simulate the observed double-humped light curves in the quiescence. Thanks to support of our programs by the Time Allocation Commission of OAN SPM, the perfect astroclimate in the observatory, and the phase-locked method of spectroscopic observations, the significant progress in the study of bounce-back systems using a small size telescope was reached.

The Relationship between Mono-abundance and Mono-age Stellar Populations in the Milky Way Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minchev, I.; Steinmetz, M.; Chiappini, C.; Martig, M.; Anders, F.; Matijevic, G.; de Jong, R. S.

2017-01-01

Studying the Milky Way disk structure using stars in narrow bins of [Fe/H] and [α/Fe] has recently been proposed as a powerful method to understand the Galactic thick and thin disk formation. It has been assumed so far that these mono-abundance populations (MAPs) are also coeval, or mono-age, populations. Here we study this relationship for a Milky Way chemodynamical model and show that equivalence between MAPs and mono-age populations exists only for the high-[α/Fe] tail, where the chemical evolution curves of different Galactic radii are far apart. At lower [α/Fe]-values an MAP is composed of stars with a range in ages, even for small observational uncertainties and a small MAP bin size. Due to the disk inside-out formation, for these MAPs younger stars are typically located at larger radii, which results in negative radial age gradients that can be as large as 2 Gyr kpc-1. Positive radial age gradients can result for MAPs at the lowest [α/Fe] and highest [Fe/H] end. Such variations with age prevent the simple interpretation of observations for which accurate ages are not available. Studying the variation with radius of the stellar surface density and scale height in our model, we find good agreement to recent analyses of the APOGEE red-clump (RC) sample when 1-4 Gyr old stars dominate (as expected for the RC). Our results suggest that the APOGEE data are consistent with a Milky Way model for which mono-age populations flare for all ages. We propose observational tests for the validity of our predictions and argue that using accurate age measurements, such as from asteroseismology, is crucial for putting constraints on Galactic formation and evolution.

Butterfly-valve inductive orientation detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrett, Steven

1980-04-01

Relative changes of inductance ΔL/L of a single layer coil surrounding a thin electrically conducting disk which can rotate about an axis perpendicular to the coil axis are studied experimentally as a means of measuring angular displacements. ΔL/L is found to be a strong function of disk diameter and is weakly dependent on the ratio of disk thickness to electromagnetic skin depth when this ratio is of the order unity. Values of ΔL/L as a function of disk diameter are given for lead, brass and copper. Detection sensitivities using a resonant tank circuit or an astatic transformer are given in terms of ΔL/L and it is shown that sensitivities of the order of 10-3 to 10-4 deg are practical. Application of this system to the Rayleigh disk and cryogenic environments are emphasized and an expression for the magnetic torque due to detection currents is given.

Generation of dynamo magnetic fields in thin Keplerian disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stepinski, T. F.; Levy, E. H.

1990-01-01

The combined action of nonuniform rotation and helical convection in protoplanetary disks, in the Galaxy, or in accretion disks surrounding black holes and other compact objects, enables an alpha-omega dynamo to generate a large-scale magnetic field. In this paper, the properties of such magnetic fields are investigated using a two-dimensional, partially numerical method. The structures of the lowest-order steady state and oscillatory modes are calculated for two kinds of external boundary conditions. A quadruple, steady state, highly localized mode is the most easily excited for low values of the dynamo number. The results indicate that, except under special conditions, disk dynamo modes tend to consist of relatively localized rings structures. For large values of the dynamo number, the magnetic field consists of a number of quasi-independent, spatially localized modes generated in various concentric rings filling the disk inward of a dynamo generation 'front'.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Philippov, Alexander A.; Rafikov, Roman R., E-mail: sashaph@princeton.edu

Radial transport of particles, elements and fluid driven by internal stresses in three-dimensional (3D) astrophysical accretion disks is an important phenomenon, potentially relevant for the outward dust transport in protoplanetary disks, origin of the refractory particles in comets, isotopic equilibration in the Earth–Moon system, etc. To gain better insight into these processes, we explore the dependence of meridional circulation in 3D disks with shear viscosity on their thermal stratification, and demonstrate a strong effect of the latter on the radial flow. Previous locally isothermal studies have normally found a pattern of the radial outflow near the midplane, switching to inflowmore » higher up. Here we show, both analytically and numerically, that a flow that is inward at all altitudes is possible in disks with entropy and temperature steeply increasing with height. Such thermodynamic conditions may be typical in the optically thin, viscously heated accretion disks. Disks in which these conditions do not hold should feature radial outflow near the midplane, as long as their internal stress is provided by the shear viscosity. Our results can also be used for designing hydrodynamical disk simulations with a prescribed pattern of the meridional circulation.« less

Understanding Accretion Disks through Three Dimensional Radiation MHD Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Yan-Fei

I study the structures and thermal properties of black hole accretion disks in the radiation pressure dominated regime. Angular momentum transfer in the disk is provided by the turbulence generated by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI), which is calculated self-consistently with a recently developed 3D radiation magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) code based on Athena. This code, developed by my collaborators and myself, couples both the radiation momentum and energy source terms with the ideal MHD equations by modifying the standard Godunov method to handle the stiff radiation source terms. We solve the two momentum equations of the radiation transfer equations with a variable Eddington tensor (VET), which is calculated with a time independent short characteristic module. This code is well tested and accurate in both optically thin and optically thick regimes. It is also accurate for both radiation pressure and gas pressure dominated flows. With this code, I find that when photon viscosity becomes significant, the ratio between Maxwell stress and Reynolds stress from the MRI turbulence can increase significantly with radiation pressure. The thermal instability of the radiation pressure dominated disk is then studied with vertically stratified shearing box simulations. Unlike the previous results claiming that the radiation pressure dominated disk with MRI turbulence can reach a steady state without showing any unstable behavior, I find that the radiation pressure dominated disks always either collapse or expand until we have to stop the simulations. During the thermal runaway, the heating and cooling rates from the simulations are consistent with the general criterion of thermal instability. However, details of the thermal runaway are different from the predictions of the standard alpha disk model, as many assumptions in that model are not satisfied in the simulations. We also identify the key reasons why previous simulations do not find the instability. The thermal instability has many important implications for understanding the observations of both X-ray binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). However, direct comparisons between observations and the simulations require global radiation MHD simulations, which will be the main focus of my future work.

Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Platinum Thin Films with Different Densities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ergul, Busra; Begum, Mahbuba; Kariuki, Nancy

Platinum thin films with different densities were grown on glassy carbon electrodes by high pressure sputtering deposition and evaluated as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts for polymer electrolyte fuel cells using cyclic voltammetry and rotating disk electrode techniques in aqueous perchloric acid electrolyte. The electrochemically active surface area, ORR mass activity (MA) and specific activity (SA) of the thin film electrodes were obtained. MA and SA were found to be higher for low-density films than for high-density film.

No Compton Reflection In a Chandra/RXTE Observation of Mkn 509: Implications for the Fe-K Line Emission From Accreting X-Ray Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yaqoob, Tahir; Padmanabhan, Urmila; Kraemer, Steven B.; Crenshaw, D. Michael; Mckernan, Barry; George, Ian M.; Turner, T. Jane; White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

We report the results of simultaneous Chandra and RXTE observations of the Seyfert 1 galaxy Mkn 509. We deconvolve the broad and narrow Fe-K emission-line components for which we measure rest-frame equivalent widths of 119+/-18 eV and 57+/-13 eV respectively. The broad line has a FWHM of 57,600((sup 14,400)(sub -21,000)) km/s and the narrow line is unresolved, with an upper limit on the FWHM of 4,940 km/s. Both components must originate in cool matter since we measure rest-frame center energies of 6.36((sup +0.13)(sub -0.12)) keV and 6.42+/-0.01 keV for the broad and narrow line respectively. This rules out He-like and H-like Fe for the origin of both the broad and narrow lines. If, as is widely accepted, the broad Fe-K line originates in Thomson-thick matter (such as an accretion disk), then one expects to observe spectral curvature above approximately 10 keV, (commensurate with the observed broad line), characteristic of the Compton-reflection continuum. However our data sets very stringent limits on deviations of the observed continuum from a power law. Light travel-time delays cannot be invoked to explain anomalies in the relative strengths of the broad Ferry line and Compton-reflection continuum since they are supposed to originate in the same physical location. We are forced to conclude that both the broad and narrow Fe-K lines had to originate in Thomson-thin matter during our observation. This result, for a single observation of just one source, means that our understanding of Fe K line emission and Compton reflection from accreting X-ray sources in general needs to be re-examined. For example, if an irradiated accretion disk existed in Mkn 509 at the time of the observations, the lack of spectral curvature above approximately 10 keV suggests two possibilities. Either the disk was Thomson-thick and highly ionized, having negligible Fe-K line emission and photoelectric absorption or the disk was Thomson-thin producing some or all of the broad Fe-K line emission. In the former case, the broad Fe-K line had to have produced in a Thomson-thin region elsewhere. In both cases the predicted spectral curvature above approximately 10 keV is negligible. An additional implication of our results is that any putative obscuring torus in the system, required by unification models of active galaxies, must also be Thomson-thin. The same applies to the optical broad line region (BLR) if it has a substantial covering factor.

Sol-Gel Derived Active Material for Yb Thin-Disk Lasers

PubMed Central

Almeida, Rui M.; Ribeiro, Tiago

2017-01-01

A ytterbium doped active material for thin-disk laser was developed based on aluminosilicate and phosphosilicate glass matrices containing up to 30 mol% YbO1.5. Thick films and bulk samples were prepared by sol-gel processing. The structural nature of the base material was assessed by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy and the film morphology was evidenced by scanning electron microscopy. The photoluminescence (PL) properties of different compositions, including emission spectra and lifetimes, were also studied. Er3+ was used as an internal reference to compare the intensities of the Yb3+ PL peaks at ~ 1020 nm. The Yb3+ PL lifetimes were found to vary between 1.0 and 0.5 ms when the Yb concentration increased from 3 to 30 mol%. Based on a figure of merit, the best active material selected was the aluminosilicate glass composition 71 SiO2-14 AlO1.5-15 YbO1.5 (in mol%). An active disk, ~ 36 μm thick, consisting of a Bragg mirror, an aluminosilicate layer doped with 15 mol% Yb and an anti-reflective coating, was fabricated. PMID:28869488

Centrally Concentrated X-Ray Radiation from an Extended Accreting Corona in Active Galactic Nuclei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, B. F.; Taam, Ronald E.; Qiao, Erlin; Yuan, Weimin

2017-10-01

The X-ray emission from bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is believed to originate in a hot corona lying above a cold, geometrically thin accretion disk. A highly concentrated corona located within ˜10 gravitational radii above the black hole is inferred from observations. Based on the accretion of interstellar medium/wind, a disk corona model has been proposed in which the corona is well coupled to the disk by radiation, thermal conduction, as well as by mass exchange. Such a model avoids artificial energy input to the corona and has been used to interpret the spectral features observed in AGN. In this work, it is shown that the bulk emission size of the corona is very small for the extended accretion flow in our model. More than 80% of the hard X-ray power is emitted from a small region confined within 10 Schwarzschild radii around a non-spinning black hole, which is expected to be even smaller accordingly for a spinning black hole. Here, the corona emission is more extended at higher Eddington ratios. The compactness parameter of the corona, l=\\tfrac{L}{R}\\tfrac{{σ }{{T}}}{{m}{{e}}{c}3}, is shown to be in the range of 1-33 for Eddington ratios of 0.02-0.1. Combined with the electron temperature in the corona, this indicates that electron-positron pair production is not dominant in this regime. A positive relation between the compactness parameter and photon index is also predicted. By comparing the above model predictions with observational features, we find that the model is in agreement with observations.

A Layered Solution for Supercomputing Storage

ScienceCinema

Grider, Gary

2018-06-13

To solve the supercomputing challenge of memory keeping up with processing speed, a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed two innovative memory management and storage technologies. Burst buffers peel off data onto flash memory to support the checkpoint/restart paradigm of large simulations. MarFS adds a thin software layer enabling a new tier for campaign storage—based on inexpensive, failure-prone disk drives—between disk drives and tape archives.

Nonequilibrium gas absorption in rotating permeable media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baev, V. K.; Bazhaikin, A. N.

2016-08-01

The absorption of ammonia, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide by water and aqueous solutions in rotating permeable media, a cellular porous disk, and a set of spaced-apart thin disks has been considered. The efficiency of cleaning air to remove these impurities is determined, and their anomalously high solubility (higher than equilibrium value) has been discovered. The results demonstrate the feasibility of designing cheap efficient rotor-type absorbers to clean gases of harmful impurities.

THE MILKY WAY HAS NO DISTINCT THICK DISK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bovy, Jo; Rix, Hans-Walter; Hogg, David W., E-mail: bovy@ias.edu

2012-06-01

Different stellar sub-populations of the Milky Way's stellar disk are known to have different vertical scale heights, their thickness increasing with age. Using SEGUE spectroscopic survey data, we have recently shown that mono-abundance sub-populations, defined in the [{alpha}/Fe]-[Fe/H] space, are well described by single-exponential spatial-density profiles in both the radial and the vertical direction; therefore, any star of a given abundance is clearly associated with a sub-population of scale height h{sub z} . Here, we work out how to determine the stellar surface-mass density contributions at the solar radius R{sub 0} of each such sub-population, accounting for the survey selectionmore » function, and for the fraction of the stellar population mass that is reflected in the spectroscopic target stars given populations of different abundances and their presumed age distributions. Taken together, this enables us to derive {Sigma}{sub R{sub 0}}(h{sub z}), the surface-mass contributions of stellar populations with scale height h{sub z} . Surprisingly, we find no hint of a thin-thick disk bi-modality in this mass-weighted scale-height distribution, but a smoothly decreasing function, approximately {Sigma}{sub R{sub 0}}(h{sub z}){proportional_to} exp(-h{sub z}), from h{sub z} Almost-Equal-To 200 pc to h{sub z} Almost-Equal-To 1 kpc. As h{sub z} is ultimately the structurally defining property of a thin or thick disk, this shows clearly that the Milky Way has a continuous and monotonic distribution of disk thicknesses: there is no 'thick disk' sensibly characterized as a distinct component. We discuss how our result is consistent with evidence for seeming bi-modality in purely geometric disk decompositions or chemical abundances analyses. We constrain the total visible stellar surface-mass density at the solar radius to be {Sigma}{sub R{sub 0}}* = 30 {+-} 1 M{sub Sun} pc{sup -2}.« less

The Genesis of the Milky Way's Thick Disk via Stellar Migration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loebman, Sarah; Roskar, R.; Debattista, V. P.; Ivezic, Z.; Quinn, T. R.; Wadsley, J.

2011-01-01

The separation of the Milky Way disk into a thin and thick component is supported by differences in kinematics and metallicity. These differences have lead to the predominant view that the thick disk formed early via a cataclysmic event and constitutes fossil evidence of the hierarchical growth of the Milky Way. We show here, using N-body simulations, how a double vertical structure, with stellar populations displaying similar dichotomies can arise purely through internal evolution. Stars migrate radially, while retaining nearly circular orbits, as described by Sellwood & Binney (2002). As stars move outwards their vertical motions carry them to larger heights above the mid-plane, populating a thickened component. Such stars found at present time in the solar neighborhood formed early in the disk’s history at smaller radii where stars are more metal-poor and α-enhanced, leading to exactly the properties observed for thick disk stars. Classifying stars as members of the thin or thick disk by either velocity or metallicity leads to an apparent separation in the other property as observed. This scenario is supported by the SDSS observation that stars in the transition region do not show any correlation between rotation and metallicity. Such a correlation is present in young stars and arises because of epicyclic motions but migration radially mixes stars, washing out the correlation. Using the Geneva Copenhagen Survey, we indeed find a velocity-metallicity correlation in the younger stars and none in the older stars. We predict a similar result when separating stars by [α/Fe]. The good qualitative agreement between our simulation and observations are remarkable because the simulation was not tuned to reproduce the Milky Way, hinting that the thick disk may be dominated by stellar migration. Nonetheless, we cannot exclude that some fraction of the thick disk is a fossil of a past more violent history.

FIDDLE: A Computer Code for Finite Difference Development of Linear Elasticity in Generalized Curvilinear Coordinates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaul, Upender K.

2005-01-01

A three-dimensional numerical solver based on finite-difference solution of three-dimensional elastodynamic equations in generalized curvilinear coordinates has been developed and used to generate data such as radial and tangential stresses over various gear component geometries under rotation. The geometries considered are an annulus, a thin annular disk, and a thin solid disk. The solution is based on first principles and does not involve lumped parameter or distributed parameter systems approach. The elastodynamic equations in the velocity-stress formulation that are considered here have been used in the solution of problems of geophysics where non-rotating Cartesian grids are considered. For arbitrary geometries, these equations along with the appropriate boundary conditions have been cast in generalized curvilinear coordinates in the present study.

Computer simulation and high level virial theory of Saturn-ring or UFO colloids.

PubMed

Bates, Martin A; Dennison, Matthew; Masters, Andrew

2008-08-21

Monte Carlo simulations are used to map out the complete phase diagram of hard body UFO systems, in which the particles are composed of a concentric sphere and thin disk. The equation of state and phase behavior are determined for a range of relative sizes of the sphere and disk. We show that for relatively large disks, nematic and solid phases are observed in addition to the isotropic fluid. For small disks, two different solid phases exist. For intermediate sizes, only a disordered fluid phase is observed. The positional and orientational structure of the various phases are examined. We also compare the equations of state and the nematic-isotropic coexistence densities with those predicted by an extended Onsager theory using virial coefficients up to B(8).

Computer simulation and high level virial theory of Saturn-ring or UFO colloids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bates, Martin A.; Dennison, Matthew; Masters, Andrew

2008-08-01

Monte Carlo simulations are used to map out the complete phase diagram of hard body UFO systems, in which the particles are composed of a concentric sphere and thin disk. The equation of state and phase behavior are determined for a range of relative sizes of the sphere and disk. We show that for relatively large disks, nematic and solid phases are observed in addition to the isotropic fluid. For small disks, two different solid phases exist. For intermediate sizes, only a disordered fluid phase is observed. The positional and orientational structure of the various phases are examined. We also compare the equations of state and the nematic-isotropic coexistence densities with those predicted by an extended Onsager theory using virial coefficients up to B8.

The fuelling of active galactic nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shlosman, Isaac; Begelman, Mitchell C.; Frank, Julian

1990-01-01

Accretion mechanisms for powering the central engines of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and possible sources of fuel are reviewed. It is a argued that the interstellar matter in the main body of the host galaxy is channeled toward the center, and the problem of angular momentum transport is addressed. Thin accretion disks are not a viable means of delivering fuel to luminous AGN on scales much larger than a parsec because of the long inflow time and effects of self-gravity. There are also serious obstacles to maintaining and regulating geometrically thick, hot accretion flows. The role of nonaxisymmetric perturbations of the gravitational potential on galactic scales and their triggers is emphasized. A unified model is outlined for fueling AGN, in which the inflow on large scales is driven by gravitational torques, and on small scales forms a mildly self-gravitating disk of clouds with inflow driven by magnetic torques or cloud-cloud collisions.

Sharpening the tools of gravitational microlensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poindexter, Shawn D.

We attempt to identify all microlensing parallax events for which the parallax fit improves Deltachi2 > 100 relative to a standard microlensing model. We outline a procedure to identify three types of discrete degeneracies (including a new one that we dub the "ecliptic degeneracy") and find many new degenerate solutions in 16 previously published and 6 unpublished events. Only four events have one unique solution and the other 18 events have a total of 44 solutions. Our sample includes three previously identified black-hole (BH) candidates. We consider the newly discovered degenerate solutions and determine the relative likelihood that each of these is a BH. We find the lens of event MACHO-99-BLG-22 is a strong BH candidate (78%), event MACHO-96-BLG-5 is a marginal BH candidate (37%), and MACHO-98-BLG-6 is a weak BH candidate (2.2%). The lens of event OGLE-2003-BLG-84 may be a Jupiter-mass free-floating planet candidate based on a weak 3sigma detection of finite-source effects. We find that event MACHO-179-A is a brown dwarf candidate within ˜100 pc of the Sun, mostly due to its very small projected Einstein radius, r˜E = 0.23 +/- 0.05 AU. As expected, these microlensing parallax events are biased toward lenses that are heavier and closer than average. These events were examined for xallarap (or binary-source motion), which can mimic parallax. We find that 23% of these events are strongly affected by xallarap. The mid-IR flux ratios FA/F B = 2.84 +/- 0.06 of the two images of the gravitationally lensed quasar HE 1104--1805 show no wavelength dependence to within 3% across 3.6--8.0 mum, no time dependence over 6 months and agree with the broad emission line flux ratios. This indicates that the mid-IR emission likely comes from scales large enough to be little affected by microlensing and that there is little differential extinction between the images. We measure a revised time-delay between these two images of 152.2+2.8-3.0 (1sigma) days from R and V-band data covering 1997 to 2006. This time-delay indicates that the lens has an approximately flat rotation curve over scales of 1-2 Re. We also observed uncorrelated variations of ˜0.05 mag yr--1 which we attribute to microlensing of the optical emission from the accretion disk. The optical colors have also changed significantly in the sense that image A is now redder than image B, rather than bluer as it was in 1993. Based on the microlensing variability of the two-image gravitational lens HE 1104--1805 observed between 0.4 and 8 mum, we have measured the size and wavelength-dependent structure of the quasar accretion disk. Modeled as a power law in temperature, T ∝ R--beta, we measure a B-band (0.13 mum in the rest frame) half-light radius of R1/2,B = 6.7+6.2-3.2 x 1015 cm (68% CL) and a logarithmic slope of beta = 0.61+0.21-0.17 (68% CL) for our standard model with a logarithmic prior on the disk size. Both the scale and the slope are consistent with simple thin disk models where beta = 3/4 and R1/2,B = 5.9 x 10 15 cm for a Shakura-Sunyaev disk radiating at the Eddington limit with 10% efficiency. The observed fluxes favor a slightly shallower slope, beta = 0.55+0.03-0.02 , and a significantly smaller size for beta = 3/4. Using 11-years of OGLE V-band photometry of Q2237+0305, we measure the transverse velocity of the lens galaxy and the mean mass of its stars. We can do so because, for the first time, we fully include the random motions of the stars in the lens galaxy in the analysis of the light curves. We find the best fit transverse velocity of the lens galaxy is ˜420km s --1 to the Northeast or Southwest -- in the absence of significant streaming velocities we cannot eliminate a 180° reversal symmetry. The mean stellar mass is = 0.37+1.07-0.26 after including a well-defined velocity prior. We also show for the first time that analyzing subsets of a microlensing light curve, in this case the first and second halves of the OGLE V-band light curve, give mutually consistent physical results. Using a microlensing analysis of 11-years of OGLE V-band photometry of the four image gravitational lens Q2237+0305, we measure the inclination i of the accretion disk to be cos i > 0.63 at 68% confidence. Very edge on (cos i < 0.34) solutions are ruled out at 95% confidence. We measure the V-band radius of the accretion disk, defined by the radius where the temperature matches the monitoring band photon emission, to be RV = 6.2+3.8-2.7 x 1015 cm assuming a simple thin disk model and including the uncertainties of its inclination. The projected radiating area of the disk remains too large to be consistent with the observed flux for a T ∝ R--3/4 thin disk temperature profile. There is no strong correlation between the direction of motion (peculiar velocity) of the lens galaxy and the orientation of the disk.

The Evolution of the Galactic Thick Disk with the LAMOST Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chengdong; Zhao, Gang

2017-11-01

We select giant stars from LAMOST data release 3 (hereafter DR3) based on their spectral properties and atmospheric parameters in order to detect the structure and kinematic properties of the Galactic thick disk. The spatial motions of our sample stars are calculated. We obtain 2035 thick-disk giant stars by using a kinematic criterion. We confirm the existence of the metal-weak thick disk. The most metal-deficient star in our sample has [{Fe}/{{H}}]=-2.34. We derive the radial and vertical metallicity gradients, which are +0.035 ± 0.010 and -0.164 ± 0.010 dex kpc-1respectively. Then we estimate the scale length and scale height of the thick disk using the Jeans equation, and the results are {h}R=3.0+/- 0.1 {kpc} and {h}Z=0.9+/- 0.1 {kpc}. The scale length of the thick disk is approximately equal to that of the thin disk from several previous works. Finally, we calculate the orbital parameters of our sample stars, and discuss the formation scenario of the thick disk. Our result for the distribution of stellar orbital eccentricity excludes the accretion scenario. We conclude that the thick disk stars are mainly born inside the Milky Way.

Morphology and kinematics of orbital components in CALIFA galaxies across the Hubble sequence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Ling; van de Ven, Glenn; Méndez-Abreu, Jairo; Obreja, Aura

2018-06-01

Based on the stellar orbit distribution derived from orbit-superposition Schwarzschild models, we decompose each of 250 representative present-day galaxies into four orbital components: cold with strong rotation, warm with weak rotation, hot with dominant random motion and counter-rotating (CR). We rebuild the surface brightness (Σ) of each orbital component and we present in figures and tables a quantification of their morphologies using the Sersic index n, concentration C = log {(Σ _{0.1R_e}/Σ _{R_e})} and intrinsic flattening qRe and qRmax, with Re the half-light-radius and Rmax the CALIFA data coverage. We find that: (1) kinematic hotter components are generally more concentrated and rounder than colder components, and (2) all components become more concentrated and thicker/rounder in more massive galaxies; they change from disk-like in low mass late-type galaxies to bulge-like in high-mass early type galaxies. Our findings suggest that Sersic n is not a good discriminator between rotating bulges and non-rotating bulges. The luminosity fraction of cold orbits fcold is well correlated with the photometrically-decomposed disk fraction fdisk as f_{cold} = 0.14 + 0.23f_{disk}. Similarly, the hot orbit fraction fhot is correlated with the bulge fraction fbulge as f_{hot} = 0.19 + 0.31f_{bulge}. The warm orbits mainly contribute to disks in low-mass late-type galaxies, and to bulges in high-mass early-type galaxies. The cold, warm, and hot components generally follow the same morphology (ɛ = 1 - qRmax) versus kinematics (σ _z^2/\\overline{V_{tot}^2}) relation as the thin disk, thick disk/pseudo bulge, and classical bulge identified from cosmological simulations.

The Gaia-ESO Survey: Exploring the complex nature and origins of the Galactic bulge populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rojas-Arriagada, A.; Recio-Blanco, A.; de Laverny, P.; Mikolaitis, Š.; Matteucci, F.; Spitoni, E.; Schultheis, M.; Hayden, M.; Hill, V.; Zoccali, M.; Minniti, D.; Gonzalez, O. A.; Gilmore, G.; Randich, S.; Feltzing, S.; Alfaro, E. J.; Babusiaux, C.; Bensby, T.; Bragaglia, A.; Flaccomio, E.; Koposov, S. E.; Pancino, E.; Bayo, A.; Carraro, G.; Casey, A. R.; Costado, M. T.; Damiani, F.; Donati, P.; Franciosini, E.; Hourihane, A.; Jofré, P.; Lardo, C.; Lewis, J.; Lind, K.; Magrini, L.; Morbidelli, L.; Sacco, G. G.; Worley, C. C.; Zaggia, S.

2017-05-01

Context. As observational evidence steadily accumulates, the nature of the Galactic bulge has proven to be rather complex: the structural, kinematic, and chemical analyses often lead to contradictory conclusions. The nature of the metal-rich bulge - and especially of the metal-poor bulge - and their relation with other Galactic components, still need to be firmly defined on the basis of statistically significant high-quality data samples. Aims: We used the fourth internal data release of the Gaia-ESO survey to characterize the bulge metallicity distribution function (MDF), magnesium abundance, spatial distribution, and correlation of these properties with kinematics. Moreover, the homogeneous sampling of the different Galactic populations provided by the Gaia-ESO survey allowed us to perform a comparison between the bulge, thin disk, and thick disk sequences in the [Mg/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] plane in order to constrain the extent of their eventual chemical similarities. Methods: We obtained spectroscopic data for 2500 red clump stars in 11 bulge fields, sampling the area -10° ≤ l ≤ + 8° and -10° ≤ b ≤ -4° from the fourth internal data release of the Gaia-ESO survey. A sample of 6300 disk stars was also selected for comparison. Spectrophotometric distances computed via isochrone fitting allowed us to define a sample of stars likely located in the bulge region. Results: From a Gaussian mixture models (GMM) analysis, the bulge MDF is confirmed to be bimodal across the whole sampled area. The relative ratio between the two modes of the MDF changes as a function of b, with metal-poor stars dominating at high latitudes. The metal-rich stars exhibit bar-like kinematics and display a bimodality in their magnitude distribution, a feature which is tightly associated with the X-shape bulge. They overlap with the metal-rich end of the thin disk sequence in the [Mg/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] plane. On the other hand, metal-poor bulge stars have a more isotropic hot kinematics and do not participate in the X-shape bulge. Their Mg enhancement level and general shape in the [Mg/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] plane is comparable to that of the thick disk sequence. The position at which [Mg/Fe] starts to decrease with [Fe/H], called the "knee", is observed in the metal-poor bulge at [Fe/H] knee = -0.37 ± 0.09, being 0.06 dex higher than that of the thick disk. Although this difference is inside the error bars, it suggest a higher star formation rate (SFR) for the bulge than for the thick disk. We estimate an upper limit for this difference of Δ [Fe/H] knee = 0.24 dex. Finally, we present a chemical evolution model that suitably fits the whole bulge sequence by assuming a fast (<1 Gyr) intense burst of stellar formation that takes place at early epochs. Conclusions: We associate metal-rich stars with the bar boxy/peanut bulge formed as the product of secular evolution of the early thin disk. On the other hand, the metal-poor subpopulation might be the product of an early prompt dissipative collapse dominated by massive stars. Nevertheless, our results do not allow us to firmly rule out the possibility that these stars come from the secular evolution of the early thick disk. This is the first time that an analysis of the bulge MDF and α-abundances has been performed in a large area on the basis of a homogeneous, fully spectroscopic analysis of high-resolution, high S/N data. Based on data products from observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under programme ID 188.B-3002. These data products have been processed by the Cambridge Astronomy Survey Unit (CASU) at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, and by the FLAMES/UVES reduction team at INAF/Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri. These data have been obtained from the Gaia-ESO Survey Data Archive, prepared and hosted by the Wide Field Astronomy Unit, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, which is funded by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council.

DCO+, DCN, and N2D+ reveal three different deuteration regimes in the disk around the Herbig Ae star HD 163296

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salinas, V. N.; Hogerheijde, M. R.; Mathews, G. S.; Öberg, K. I.; Qi, C.; Williams, J. P.; Wilner, D. J.

2017-10-01

Context. Deuterium fractionation has been used to study the thermal history of prestellar environments. Their formation pathways trace different regions of the disk and may shed light into the physical structure of the disk, including locations of important features for planetary formation. Aims: We aim to constrain the radial extent of the main deuterated species; we are particularly interested in spatially characterizing the high and low temperature pathways for enhancing deuteration of these species. Methods: We observed the disk surrounding the Herbig Ae star HD 163296 using ALMA in Band 6 and obtained resolved spectral imaging data of DCO+ (J = 3 - 2), DCN (J = 3 - 2) and N2D+ (J = 3 - 2) with synthesized beam sizes of 0.̋53 × 0.̋42, 0.̋53 × 0.̋42, and 0.̋50 × 0.̋39, respectively. We adopted a physical model of the disk from the literature and use the 3D radiative transfer code LIME to estimate an excitation temperature profile for our detected lines. We modeled the radial emission profiles of DCO+, DCN, and N2D+, assuming their emission is optically thin, using a parametric model of their abundances and our excitation temperature estimates. Results: DCO+ can be described by a three-region model with constant-abundance rings centered at 70 AU, 150 AU, and 260 AU. The DCN radial profile peaks at about 60 AU and N2D+ is seen in a ring at 160 AU. Simple models of both molecules using constant abundances reproduce the data. Assuming reasonable average excitation temperatures for the whole disk, their disk-averaged column densities (and deuterium fractionation ratios) are 1.6-2.6×1012 cm-2 (0.04-0.07), 2.9-5.2×1012 cm-2 ( 0.02), and 1.6-2.5×1011 cm-2 (0.34-0.45) for DCO+, DCN, and N2D+, respectively. Conclusions: Our simple best-fit models show a correlation between the radial location of the first two rings in DCO+ and the DCN and N2D+ abundance distributions that can be interpreted as the high and low temperature deuteration pathways regimes. The origin of the third DCO+ ring at 260 AU is unknown but may be due to a local decrease of ultraviolet opacity allowing the photodesorption of CO or due to thermal desorption of CO as a consequence of radial drift and settlement of dust grains. The derived Df values agree with previous estimates of 0.05 for DCO+/HCO+ and 0.02 for DCN/HCN in HD 163296, and 0.3-0.5 for N2D+/N2H+ in AS 209, a T Tauri disk. The high N2D+/N2H+ confirms N2D+ as a good candidate for tracing ionization in the cold outer disk. The reduced images (FITS files) are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/606/A125

Rings of Molecular Line Emission in the Disk Orbiting the Young, Close Binary V4046 Sgr

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickson-Vandervelde, Dorothy; Kastner, Joel H.; Qi, C.; Forveille, Thierry; Hily-Blant, Pierre; Oberg, Karin; Wilner, David; Andrews, Sean; Gorti, Uma; Rapson, Valerie; Sacco, Germano; Principe, David

2018-01-01

We present analysis of a suite of subarcsecond ALMA Band 6 (1.1 - 1.4 mm) molecular line images of the circumbinary, protoplanetary disk orbiting V4046 Sgr. The ~20 Myr-old V4046 Sgr system, which lies a mere ~73 pc from Earth, consists of a close (separation ~10 Rsun) pair of roughly solar-mass stars that are orbited by a gas-rich crcumbinary disk extending to ~350 AU in radius. The ALMA images reveal that the molecules CO and HCN and their isotopologues display centrally peaked surface brightness morphologies, whereas the cyanide group molecules (HC3N, CH3CN), deuterated molecules (DCN, DCO+), hydrocarbons (as traced by C2H), and potential CO ice line tracers (N2H+, and H2CO) appear as a sequence of sharp and diffuse rings of increasing radii. The characteristic sizes of these molecular emission rings, which range from ~25 to >100 AU in radius, are evident in radial emission-line surface brightness profiles extracted from the deprojected disk images. We find that emission from 13CO emission transitions from optically thin to thick within ~50 AU, whereas C18O emission remains optically thin within this radius. We summarize the insight into the physical and chemical processes within this evolved protoplanetary disk that can be obtained from comparisons of the various emission-line morphologies with each other and with that of the continuum (large-grain) emission on size scales of tens of AU.This research is supported by NASA Exoplanets program grant NNX16AB43G to RIT

X-ray variability and the inner region in active galactic nuclei

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mohan, P.; Mangalam, A., E-mail: prashanth@iiap.res.in, E-mail: mangalam@iiap.res.in

2014-08-20

We present theoretical models of X-ray variability attributable to orbital signatures from an accretion disk including emission region size, quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs), and its quality factor Q, and the emergence of a break frequency in the power spectral density shape. We find a fractional variability amplitude of F{sub var}∝M{sub ∙}{sup −0.4}. We conduct a time series analysis on X-ray light curves (0.3-10 keV) of a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). A statistically significant bend frequency is inferred in 9 of 58 light curves (16%) from 3 AGNs for which the break timescale is consistent with the reported BH spinmore » but not with the reported BH mass. Upper limits of 2.85 × 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉} in NGC 4051, 8.02 × 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉} in MRK 766, and 4.68 × 10{sup 7} M {sub ☉} in MCG-6-30-15 are inferred for maximally spinning BHs. For REJ 1034+396 where a QPO at 3733 s was reported, we obtain an emission region size of (6-6.5) M and a BH spin of a ≲ 0.08. The relativistic inner region of a thin disk, dominated by radiation pressure and electron scattering, is likely to host the orbital features as the simulated Q ranges from 6.3 × 10{sup –2} to 4.25 × 10{sup 6}, containing the observed Q. The derived value of Q ∼ 32 for REJ 1034+396 therefore suggests that the AGN hosts a thin disk.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Devereux, Nick, E-mail: devereux@erau.edu

Prior imaging of the lenticular galaxy, NGC 3998, with the Hubble Space Telescope revealed a small, highly inclined, nuclear ionized gas disk, the kinematics of which indicate the presence of a 270 million solar mass black hole. Plausible kinematic models are used to constrain the size of the broad emission line region (BELR) in NGC 3998 by modeling the shape of the broad H{alpha}, H{beta}, and H{gamma} emission line profiles. The analysis indicates that the BELR is large with an outer radius {approx}7 pc, regardless of whether the kinematic model is represented by an accretion disk or a spherically symmetricmore » inflow. The electron temperature in the BELR is {<=} 28,800 K consistent with photoionization by the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Indeed, the AGN is able to sustain the ionization of the BELR, albeit with a high covering factor ranging between 20% and 100% depending on the spectral energy distribution adopted for the AGN. The high covering factor favors a spherical distribution for the gas as opposed to a thin disk. If the gas density is {>=}7 x 10{sup 3} cm{sup -3} as indicated by the broad forbidden [S II] emission line ratio, then interpreting the broad H{alpha} emission line in terms of a steady state spherically symmetric inflow leads to a rate {<=} 6.5 x 10{sup -2} M{sub sun} yr{sup -1} which exceeds the inflow requirement to explain the X-ray luminosity in terms of a radiatively inefficient inflow by a factor of {<=}18.« less

Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Spectroscopy of the Central 14 pc OF NGC 3998: Evidence for an Inflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devereux, Nick

2011-02-01

Prior imaging of the lenticular galaxy, NGC 3998, with the Hubble Space Telescope revealed a small, highly inclined, nuclear ionized gas disk, the kinematics of which indicate the presence of a 270 million solar mass black hole. Plausible kinematic models are used to constrain the size of the broad emission line region (BELR) in NGC 3998 by modeling the shape of the broad Hα, Hβ, and Hγ emission line profiles. The analysis indicates that the BELR is large with an outer radius ~7 pc, regardless of whether the kinematic model is represented by an accretion disk or a spherically symmetric inflow. The electron temperature in the BELR is <= 28,800 K consistent with photoionization by the active galactic nucleus (AGN). Indeed, the AGN is able to sustain the ionization of the BELR, albeit with a high covering factor ranging between 20% and 100% depending on the spectral energy distribution adopted for the AGN. The high covering factor favors a spherical distribution for the gas as opposed to a thin disk. If the gas density is >=7 × 103 cm-3 as indicated by the broad forbidden [S II] emission line ratio, then interpreting the broad Hα emission line in terms of a steady state spherically symmetric inflow leads to a rate <= 6.5 × 10-2 M sun yr-1 which exceeds the inflow requirement to explain the X-ray luminosity in terms of a radiatively inefficient inflow by a factor of <=18.

Boundary Conditions of Radiative Cooling in Gravitationally Unstable Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, K.; Durisen, R. H.; Mejía, A. C.

2004-05-01

In order to create 3D hydrodynamic disk simulations which reproduce the observable properties of young stellar disks and which realistically probe the possibility of planet formation by gravitational instabilities, it is crucial to include a proper treatment of the radiative energy transport within the disk. Our recent simulations (Mejía 2004, Ph.D. dissertation) suggest that the boundary conditions between optically thin and thick regions are important in treating radiative cooling in protoplanetary disks. Although the initial cooling times are shorter than one rotation period, these disks adjust their structures over a few rotations to much longer cooling times, at which Gammie's (2001) criterion predicts they are stable against fragmentation into dense clumps. In fact, the disks do not fragment in Mejía's calculations. Boss (2001, 2002), on the other hand, using different boundary conditions, finds rapid cooling and fragmentation in his own disk simulations with radiative cooling. He attributes the rapid cooling to convection, which does not occur in Mejía's calculations. This apparent disagreement is critical because disk fragmentation has been proposed as a gas giant planet formation mechanism. To test the importance of boundary conditions, we are running simulations which compare a Boss-like treatment of boundary conditions with Mejía's for the case of a disk heated from above by a hot envelope. Preliminary results will be presented.

Disk Evolution in Cep OB2: Results from the Spitzer Space Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sicilia-Aguilar Aurora; Hartmann, Lee W.; Calvet Nuria; Megeath, S. T.; Muzerolle, James; Allen, Lori; D'Alessio, Paola; Merin, Bruno; Stauffer, John; Lada, Charles;

Dynamics of the central entrapped bubble during drop impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jian, Zhen; Channa, Murad Ali; Thoraval, Marie-Jean

2017-11-01

When a drop impacts onto a liquid surface, it entraps a thin central air disk. The air is then brought towards the axis of symmetry by surface tension. This contraction dynamics is very challenging to capture, due to the small length scales (a few micrometers thin air disk) and time scales (contracting in a few hundred microseconds). We use the open source two-phase flow codes Gerris and Basilisk to study this air entrapment phenomenon. The effects of liquid properties such as viscosity and surface tension, and of the impact velocity were investigated. We focus on the morphology of the contracting air disk. The bubble is expected to contract into a single spherical bubble. However, in some cases, the air can be stretched vertically by the liquid inertia and split into two smaller bubbles. The convergence of capillary waves on the air disk towards the axis of symmetry can also make it rupture at the center, thus forming a toroidal bubble. In other cases, vorticity shedding can deform the contracting bubble, leading to more complex structures. A parameter space analysis based on the Reynolds and Weber numbers was then done to classify the different regimes and explain the transitions. Full affiliation:State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures,Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Environment and Control for Flight Vehicle,International Center for Applied Mechanics,School of Aerospace,Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Circumstellar and circumplanetary disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiang, Eugene

2000-11-01

This thesis studies disks in three astrophysical contexts: (1)protoplanetary disks; (2)the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt; and (3)planetary rings. We derive hydrostatic, radiative equilibrium models of passive protoplanetary disks surrounding T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars. Each disk is encased by an optically thin layer of superheated dust grains. This layer is responsible for up to ~70% of the disk luminosity at wavelengths between ~5 and 60 μm. The heated disk flares and absorbs more stellar radiation at a given stellocentric distance than a flat disk would. Spectral energy distributions are computed and found to compare favorably with the observed flattish infrared excesses of several young stellar objects. Spectral features from dust grains in the superheated layer appear in emission if the disk is viewed nearly face-on. We present the results of a pencil-beam survey of the Kuiper Belt using the Keck 10-m telescope. Two new objects are discovered. Data from all surveys are pooled to construct the luminosity function from mR = 20 to 27. The cumulative number of objects per square degree, Σ(< mR), is such that log10Σ (< mR) = 0.52(mR - 23.5). The luminosity function is consistent with a power-law size distribution for which the smallest objects possess most of the surface area but the largest bodies contain most of the mass. To order-of-magnitude, 0.2 M⊕ and 1 × 1010 comet progenitors lie between 30 and 50 AU. The classical Kuiper Belt appears truncated at a distance of 50 AU. We propose that rigid precession of narrow eccentric planetary rings surrounding Uranus and Saturn is maintained by a balance of forces due to ring self- gravity, planetary oblateness, and interparticle collisions. Collisional impulses play an especially dramatic role near ring edges. Pressure-induced accelerations are maximal near edges because there (1)velocity dispersions are enhanced by resonant satellite perturbations, and (2)the surface density declines steeply. Remarkably, collisional forces felt by material in the last ~100 m of a ~10 km wide ring can increase equilibrium masses up to a factor of ~100. New ring surface densities are derived which accord with Voyager radio measurements.

ALMA Observations of the Molecular Gas in the Debris Disk of the 30 Myr Old Star HD 21997

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kospal, A.; Moor, A.; Juhasz, A.; Abraham, P.; Apai, D.; Csengeri, T.; Grady, C. A.; Henning, Th.; Hughes, A. M.; Kiss, Cs.;

A search for near-infrared molecular hydrogen emission in the CTTS LkHα 264 and the debris disk 49 Ceti

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carmona, A.; van den Ancker, M. E.; Henning, Th.; Goto, M.; Fedele, D.; Stecklum, B.

2007-12-01

We report on the first results of a search for molecular hydrogen emission from protoplanetary disks using CRIRES, ESO's new VLT Adaptive Optics high resolution near-infrared spectrograph. We observed the classical T Tauri star LkHα 264 and the debris disk 49 Cet, and searched for υ= 1-0 S(1) H2 emission at 2.1218 μm, υ = 1-0 S(0) H2 emission at 2.2233 μm and υ = 2-1 S(1) H2 emission at 2.2477 μm. The H2 line at 2.1218 μm is detected in LkHα 264 confirming the previous observations by Itoh et al. (2003). In addition, our CRIRES spectra reveal the previously observed but not detected H2 line at 2.2233 μm in LkHα 264. An upper limit of 5.3 × 10-16 erg s-1 cm-2 on the υ = 2-1 S(1) H2 line flux in LkHα 264 is derived. The detected lines coincide with the rest velocity of LkHα 264. They have a FWHM of ~20 km s-1. This is strongly suggestive of a disk origin for the lines. These observations are the first simultaneous detection of υ = 1-0 S(1) and υ = 1-0 S(0) H2 emission from a protoplanetary disk. 49 Cet does not exhibit H2 emission in any of the three observed lines. We derive the mass of optically thin H2 at T˜1500 K in the inner disk of LkHα 264 and derive stringent limits in the case of 49 Cet at the same temperature. There are a few lunar masses of optically thin hot H2 in the inner disk (~0.1 AU) of LkHα 264, and less than a tenth of a lunar mass of hot H2 in the inner disk of 49 Cet. The measured 1-0 S(0)/1-0 S(1) and 2-1 S(1)/1-0 S(1) line ratios in LkHα 264 indicate that the H2 emitting gas is at a temperature lower than 1500 K and that the H2 is most likely thermally excited by UV photons. The υ = 1-0 S(1) H2 line in LkHα 264 is single peaked and spatially unresolved. Modeling of the shape of the line suggests that the disk should be seen close to face-on (i<35°) and that the line is emitted within a few AU of the LkHα 264 disk. A comparative analysis of the physical properties of classical T Tauri stars in which the H2 υ = 1-0 S(1) line has been detected and non-detected indicates that the presence of H2 emission is correlated with the magnitude of the UV excess and the strength of the Hα line. The lack of H2 emission in the NIR spectra of 49 Cet and the absence of Hα emission suggest that the gas in the inner disk of 49 Cet has dissipated. These results combined with previous detections of 12CO emission at sub-mm wavelengths indicate that the disk surrounding 49 Cet should have an inner hole. We favor inner disk dissipation by inside-out photoevaporation, or the presence of an unseen low-mass companion as the most likely explanations for the lack of gas in the inner disk of 49 Cet. Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory, Chile (program ID 60.A-9064(A)).

Electromechanical transducer for acoustic telemetry system

DOEpatents

Drumheller, D.S.

1993-06-22

An improved electromechanical transducer is provided for use in an acoustic telemetry system. The transducer of this invention comprises a stack of ferroelectric ceramic disks interleaved with a plurality of spaced electrodes which are used to electrically pole the ceramic disks. The ceramic stack is housed in a metal tubular drill collar segment. The electrodes are preferably alternatively connected to ground potential and driving potential. This alternating connection of electrodes to ground and driving potential subjects each disk to an equal electric field; and the direction of the field alternates to match the alternating direction of polarization of the ceramic disks. Preferably, a thin metal foil is sandwiched between electrodes to facilitate the electrical connection. Alternatively, a thicker metal spacer plate is selectively used in place of the metal foil in order to promote thermal cooling of the ceramic stack.

Electromechanical transducer for acoustic telemetry system

DOEpatents

Drumheller, Douglas S.

1993-01-01

An improved electromechanical transducer is provided for use in an acoustic telemetry system. The transducer of this invention comprises a stack of ferroelectric ceramic disks interleaved with a plurality of spaced electrodes which are used to electrically pole the ceramic disks. The ceramic stack is housed in a metal tubular drill collar segment. The electrodes are preferably alternatively connected to ground potential and driving potential. This alternating connection of electrodes to ground and driving potential subjects each disk to an equal electric field; and the direction of the field alternates to match the alternating direction of polarization of the ceramic disks. Preferably, a thin metal foil is sandwiched between electrodes to facilitate the electrical connection. Alternatively, a thicker metal spacer plate is selectively used in place of the metal foil in order to promote thermal cooling of the ceramic stack.

Transport coefficients and mechanical response in hard-disk colloidal suspensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Bo-Kai; Li, Jian; Chen, Kang; Tian, Wen-De; Ma, Yu-Qiang

2016-11-01

We investigate the transport properties and mechanical response of glassy hard disks using nonlinear Langevin equation theory. We derive expressions for the elastic shear modulus and viscosity in two dimensions on the basis of thermal-activated barrier-hopping dynamics and mechanically accelerated motion. Dense hard disks exhibit phenomena such as softening elasticity, shear-thinning of viscosity, and yielding upon deformation, which are qualitatively similar to dense hard-sphere colloidal suspensions in three dimensions. These phenomena can be ascribed to stress-induced “landscape tilting”. Quantitative comparisons of these phenomena between hard disks and hard spheres are presented. Interestingly, we find that the density dependence of yield stress in hard disks is much more significant than in hard spheres. Our work provides a foundation for further generalizing the nonlinear Langevin equation theory to address slow dynamics and rheological behavior in binary or polydisperse mixtures of hard or soft disks. Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB821500) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21374073 and, 21574096).

Mode-locked thin-disk lasers and their potential application for high-power terahertz generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saraceno, Clara J.

2018-04-01

The progress achieved in the last few decades in the performance of ultrafast laser systems with high average power has been tremendous, and continues to provide momentum to new exciting applications, both in scientific research and technology. Among the various technological advances that have shaped this progress, mode-locked thin-disk oscillators have attracted significant attention as a unique technology capable of providing ultrashort pulses with high energy (tens to hundreds of microjoules) and at very high repetition rates (in the megahertz regime) from a single table-top oscillator. This technology opens the door to compact high repetition rate ultrafast sources spanning the entire electromagnetic spectrum from the XUV to the terahertz regime, opening various new application fields. In this article, we focus on their unexplored potential as compact driving sources for high average power terahertz generation.

Axions and the luminosity function of white dwarfs. The thin and thick disks, and the halo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isern, J.; García-Berro, E.; Torres, S.; Cojocaru, R.; Catalán, S.

2018-05-01

The evolution of white dwarfs is a simple gravothermal process of cooling. Since the shape of their luminosity function is sensitive to the characteristic cooling time, it is possible to use its slope to test the existence of additional sources or sinks of energy, such as those predicted by alternative physical theories. The aim of this paper is to study if the changes in the slope of the white dwarf luminosity function around bolometric magnitudes ranging from 8 to 10 and previously attributed to axion emission are, effectively, a consequence of the existence of axions and not an artifact introduced by the star formation rate. We compute theoretical luminosity functions of the thin and thick disk, and of the stellar halo including axion emission and we compare them with the existing observed luminosity functions. Since these stellar populations have different star formation histories, the slope change should be present in all of them at the same place if it is due to axions or any other intrinsic cooling mechanism. The signature of an unexpected cooling seems to be present in the luminosity functions of the thin and thick disks, as well as in the halo luminosity function. This additional cooling is compatible with axion emission, thus supporting to the idea that DFSZ axions, with a mass in the range of 4 to 10 meV, could exist. If this were the case, these axions could be detected by the future solar axioscope IAXO.

Bar quenching in gas-rich galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khoperskov, S.; Haywood, M.; Di Matteo, P.; Lehnert, M. D.; Combes, F.

2018-01-01

Galaxy surveys have suggested that rapid and sustained decrease in the star-formation rate (SFR), "quenching", in massive disk galaxies is frequently related to the presence of a bar. Optical and near-IR observations reveal that nearly 60% of disk galaxies in the local universe are barred, thus it is important to understand the relationship between bars and star formation in disk galaxies. Recent observational results imply that the Milky Way quenched about 9-10 Gyr ago, at the transition between the cessation of the growth of the kinematically hot, old, metal-poor thick disk and the kinematically colder, younger, and more metal-rich thin disk. Although perhaps coincidental, the quenching episode could also be related to the formation of the bar. Indeed the transfer of energy from the large-scale shear induced by the bar to increasing turbulent energy could stabilize the gaseous disk against wide-spread star formation and quench the galaxy. To explore the relation between bar formation and star formation in gas rich galaxies quantitatively, we simulated gas-rich disk isolated galaxies. Our simulations include prescriptions for star formation, stellar feedback, and for regulating the multi-phase interstellar medium. We find that the action of stellar bar efficiently quenches star formation, reducing the star-formation rate by a factor of ten in less than 1 Gyr. Analytical and self-consistent galaxy simulations with bars suggest that the action of the stellar bar increases the gas random motions within the co-rotation radius of the bar. Indeed, we detect an increase in the gas velocity dispersion up to 20-35 km s-1 at the end of the bar formation phase. The star-formation efficiency decreases rapidly, and in all of our models, the bar quenches the star formation in the galaxy. The star-formation efficiency is much lower in simulated barred compared to unbarred galaxies and more rapid bar formation implies more rapid quenching.

The advantage of an alternative substrate over Al/NiP disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiaa, Chi L.; Eltoukhy, Atef

1994-02-01

Compact-size disk drives with high storage densities are in high demand due to the popularity of portable computers and workstations. The contact-start-stop (CSS) endurance performance must improve in order to accomodate the higher number of on/off cycles. In this paper, we looked at 65 mm thin-film canasite substrate disks and evaluated their mechanical performance. We compared them with conventional aluminum NiP-plated disks in surface topography, take-off time with changes of skew angles and radius, CSS, drag test and glide height performance, and clamping effect. In addition, a new post-sputter process aimed at the improvement of take-off and glide as well as CSS performances was investigated and demonstrated for the canasite disks. From the test results, it is indicated that canasite achieved a lower take-off velocity, higher clamping resistance, and better glide height and CSS endurance performance. This study concludes that a new generation disk drive equipped with canasite substrate disks will consume less power from the motor due to faster take-off and lighter weight, achieve higher recording density since the head flies lower, can better withstand damage from sliding friction during the CSS operations, and will be less prone to disk distortion from clamping due to its superior mechanical properties.

3D Radiative Hydrodynamics Simulations of Protoplanetary Disks: A Comparison Between Two Radiative Cooling Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lord, Jesse W.; Boley, A. C.; Durisen, R. H.

2006-12-01

We present a comparison between two three-dimensional radiative hydrodynamics simulations of a gravitationally unstable 0.07 Msun protoplanetary disk around a 0.5 Msun star. The first simulation is the radiatively cooled disk described in Boley et al. (2006, ApJ, 651). This simulation employed an algorithm that uses 3D flux-limited diffusion wherever the vertical Rosseland optical depth is greater than 2/3, which defines the optically thick region. The optically thin atmosphere of the disk, which cools according to its emissivity, is coupled to the optically thick region through an Eddington-like boundary condition. The second simulation employed an algorithm that uses a combination of solving the radiative transfer equation along rays in the z direction and flux limited diffusion in the r and phi directions on a cylindrical grid. We compare the following characteristics of the disk simulations: the mass transport and torques induced by gravitational instabilities, the effective temperature profiles of the disks, the gravitational and Reynolds stresses measured in the disk and those expected in an alpha-disk, and the amplitudes of the Fourier modes. This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation through grant AST-0452975 (astronomy REU program to Indiana University).

Predicting the flow & noise of a rotor in a turbulent boundary layer using an actuator disk -- RANS approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buono, Armand C.

The numerical method presented in this study attempts to predict the mean, non-uniform flow field upstream of a propeller partially immersed in a thick turbulent boundary layer with an actuator disk using CFD based on RANS in ANSYS FLUENT. Three different configurations, involving an infinitely thin actuator disk in the freestream (Configuration 1), an actuator disk near a wall with a turbulent boundary layer (Configuration 2), and an actuator disk with a hub near a wall with a turbulent boundary layer (Configuration 3), were analyzed for a variety of advance ratios ranging from J = 0.48 to J =1.44. CFD results are shown to be in agreement with previous works and validated with experimental data of reverse flow occurring within the boundary layer above the flat plate upstream of a rotor in the Virginia Tech's Stability Wind Tunnel facility. Results from Configuration 3 will be used in future aero-acoustic computations.

The Fragmentation Criteria in Local Vertically Stratified Self-gravitating Disk Simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baehr, Hans; Klahr, Hubert; Kratter, Kaitlin M., E-mail: baehr@mpia.de

Massive circumstellar disks are prone to gravitational instabilities, which trigger the formation of spiral arms that can fragment into bound clumps under the right conditions. Two-dimensional simulations of self-gravitating disks are useful starting points for studying fragmentation because they allow high-resolution simulations of thin disks. However, convergence issues can arise in 2D from various sources. One of these sources is the 2D approximation of self-gravity, which exaggerates the effect of self-gravity on small scales when the potential is not smoothed to account for the assumed vertical extent of the disk. This effect is enhanced by increased resolution, resulting in fragmentationmore » at longer cooling timescales β . If true, it suggests that the 3D simulations of disk fragmentation may not have the same convergence problem and could be used to examine the nature of fragmentation without smoothing self-gravity on scales similar to the disk scale height. To that end, we have carried out local 3D self-gravitating disk simulations with simple β cooling with fixed background irradiation to determine if 3D is necessary to properly describe disk fragmentation. Above a resolution of ∼40 grid cells per scale height, we find that our simulations converge with respect to the cooling timescale. This result converges in agreement with analytic expectations which place a fragmentation boundary at β {sub crit} = 3.« less

The circumbinary dusty disk around the hydrogen-deficient binary star υ Sagittarii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Netolický, M.; Bonneau, D.; Chesneau, O.; Harmanec, P.; Koubský, P.; Mourard, D.; Stee, P.

2009-06-01

Aims: The aim of this paper is to determine the properties of the dusty environment of the hydrogen-deficient binary system υ Sgr, whose binary properties and other characteristics are poorly known. Methods: We obtained the first mid-IR interferometric observations of υ Sgr using the instrument MIDI of the VLTI used with different pairs of 1.8 m and 8 m telescopes. The calibrated visibilities, the N band spectrum, and the SED were compared with disk models computed with the MC3D code to determine the geometry and chemical composition of the envelope. Results: υ Sgr is unresolved with an 8 m telescope at 8.7 μm. We propose a disk model that agrees with the measured visibilities and the SED, consisting of a geometrically thin disk with an inner radius R_in = 6.0+0.5-1.5 AU and a scale height h100 = 3.5+2.0-1.5 AU. The chemical composition of the dust is approximately 60% of carbon dust and 40% of silicate dust, as a consequence of several episodes of mass transfers, whose chemistry was imprinted in the dust composition. We also constrain the inclination of the disk i = 50°+10°-20° and its orientation position angle PA = 80°+10°-5°. Conclusions: The mid-infrared interferometric observations of the binary star υ Sgr allowed us to constrain the geometry of the circumbinary dusty envelope. By defining the inclination and PA of the system with better accuracy than before, these observations restrict the parameter space for the orbital parameters and thus the nature of the stars orbiting in this system. Based on observations made with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer at Paranal Observatory under program 079.D-0115. Visibility data are only available in electronic form at the CDS website.

THE SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF MONO-ABUNDANCE SUB-POPULATIONS OF THE MILKY WAY DISK

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bovy, Jo; Rix, Hans-Walter; Liu Chao

2012-07-10

The spatial, kinematic, and elemental-abundance structure of the Milky Way's stellar disk is complex, and has been difficult to dissect with local spectroscopic or global photometric data. Here, we develop and apply a rigorous density modeling approach for Galactic spectroscopic surveys that enables investigation of the global spatial structure of stellar sub-populations in narrow bins of [{alpha}/Fe] and [Fe/H], using 23,767 G-type dwarfs from SDSS/SEGUE, which effectively sample 5 kpc < R{sub GC} < 12 kpc and 0.3 kpc {approx}< |Z| {approx}< 3 kpc. We fit models for the number density of each such ([{alpha}/Fe] and [Fe/H]) mono-abundance component, properlymore » accounting for the complex spectroscopic SEGUE sampling of the underlying stellar population, as well as for the metallicity and color distributions of the samples. We find that each mono-abundance sub-population has a simple spatial structure that can be described by a single exponential in both the vertical and radial directions, with continuously increasing scale heights ( Almost-Equal-To 200 pc to 1 kpc) and decreasing scale lengths (>4.5 kpc to 2 kpc) for increasingly older sub-populations, as indicated by their lower metallicities and [{alpha}/Fe] enhancements. That the abundance-selected sub-components with the largest scale heights have the shortest scale lengths is in sharp contrast with purely geometric 'thick-thin disk' decompositions. To the extent that [{alpha}/Fe] is an adequate proxy for age, our results directly show that older disk sub-populations are more centrally concentrated, which implies inside-out formation of galactic disks. The fact that the largest scale-height sub-components are most centrally concentrated in the Milky Way is an almost inevitable consequence of explaining the vertical structure of the disk through internal evolution. Whether the simple spatial structure of the mono-abundance sub-components and the striking correlations between age, scale length, and scale height can be plausibly explained by satellite accretion or other external heating remains to be seen.« less

The optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray structure of the quasar HE 0435–1223

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blackburne, Jeffrey A.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Chen, Bin

2014-07-10

Microlensing has proved an effective probe of the structure of the innermost regions of quasars and an important test of accretion disk models. We present light curves of the lensed quasar HE 0435–1223 in the R band and in the ultraviolet (UV), and consider them together with X-ray light curves in two energy bands that are presented in a companion paper. Using a Bayesian Monte Carlo method, we constrain the size of the accretion disk in the rest-frame near- and far-UV, and constrain for the first time the size of the X-ray emission regions in two X-ray energy bands. Themore » R-band scale size of the accretion disk is about 10{sup 15.23} cm (∼23r{sub g}), slightly smaller than previous estimates, but larger than would be predicted from the quasar flux. In the UV, the source size is weakly constrained, with a strong prior dependence. The UV to R-band size ratio is consistent with the thin disk model prediction, with large error bars. In soft and hard X-rays, the source size is smaller than ∼10{sup 14.8} cm (∼10r{sub g} ) at 95% confidence. We do not find evidence of structure in the X-ray emission region, as the most likely value for the ratio of the hard X-ray size to the soft X-ray size is unity. Finally, we find that the most likely value for the mean mass of stars in the lens galaxy is ∼0.3 M{sub ☉}, consistent with other studies.« less

The Most Ancient Spiral Galaxy: A 2.6-Gyr-old Disk with a Tranquil Velocity Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Tiantian; Richard, Johan; Gupta, Anshu; Federrath, Christoph; Sharma, Soniya; Groves, Brent A.; Kewley, Lisa J.; Cen, Renyue; Birnboim, Yuval; Fisher, David B.

2017-11-01

We report an integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) observation of a gravitationally lensed spiral galaxy A1689B11 at redshift z = 2.54. It is the most ancient spiral galaxy discovered to date and the second kinematically confirmed spiral at z≳ 2. Thanks to gravitational lensing, this is also by far the deepest IFS observation with the highest spatial resolution (˜400 pc) on a spiral galaxy at a cosmic time when the Hubble sequence is about to emerge. After correcting for a lensing magnification of 7.2 ± 0.8, this primitive spiral disk has an intrinsic star formation rate of 22 ± 2 M ⊙ yr-1, a stellar mass of {10}9.8+/- 0.3 M ⊙, and a half-light radius of {r}1/2=2.6+/- 0.7 {kpc}, typical of a main-sequence star-forming galaxy at z˜ 2. However, the Hα kinematics show a surprisingly tranquil velocity field with an ordered rotation ({V}{{c}}=200+/- 12 km s-1) and uniformly small velocity dispersions ({V}σ ,{mean}=23 +/- 4 km s-1 and {V}σ ,{outer - {disk}}=15+/- 2 km s-1). The low gas velocity dispersion is similar to local spiral galaxies and is consistent with the classic density wave theory where spiral arms form in dynamically cold and thin disks. We speculate that A1689B11 belongs to a population of rare spiral galaxies at z≳ 2 that mark the formation epoch of thin disks. Future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope will greatly increase the sample of these rare galaxies and unveil the earliest onset of spiral arms.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carraro, Giovanni; Vázquez, Rubén A.; Costa, Edgardo

In the third Galactic quadrant (180{sup ∘}⩽l⩽270{sup ∘}) of the Milky Way, the Galactic thin disk exhibits a significant warp—shown both by gas and young stars—bending down a few kiloparsecs below the formal Galactic plane (b=0{sup ∘}). This warp shows its maximum at l∼240{sup ∘}, in the direction of the Canis Major constellation. In a series of papers, we have traced the detailed structure of this region using open star clusters, putting particular emphasis on the spiral structure of the outer disk. We noted a conspicuous accumulation of young star clusters within 2–3 kpc from the Sun and close tomore » b = 0°, which we interpreted as the continuation of the Local (Orion) arm toward the outer disk. While most clusters (and young stars in their background) closely follow the warp of the disk, our decade-old survey of the spiral structure of this region led us to identify three clusters, Haffner 18 (1 and 2) and Haffner 19, which remain very close to b = 0° and lie at distances (4.5, ∼8.0, and 6.4 kpc) where most of the material is already significantly warped. Here, we report on a search for clusters that share the same properties as Haffner 18 and 19, and investigate the possible reasons for such an unexpected occurrence. We present UBVRI photometry of five young clusters, namely NGC 2345, NGC 2374, Trumpler 9, Haffner 20, and Haffner 21, which also lie close to the formal Galactic plane. With the exception of Haffner 20, in the background of these clusters we detected young stars that appear close to b=0{sup ∘} and are located at distances up to ∼8 kpc from the Sun, thus deviating significantly from the warp. These populations define a structure that distributes over almost the entire third Galactic quadrant. We discuss this structure in the context of a possible thin disk flaring, similar to the Galactic thick disk.« less

On the Accretion Rates and Radiative Efficiencies of the Highest-redshift Quasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Volonteri, Marta; Natarajan, Priyamvada

2017-02-01

We estimate the accretion rates onto the supermassive black holes that power 20 of the highest-redshift quasars, at z≳ 5.8, including the quasar with the highest redshift known to date—ULAS J1120 at z = 7.09. The analysis is based on the observed (rest-frame) optical luminosities and reliable “virial” estimates of the BH masses of the quasars, and utilizes scaling relations derived from thin accretion disk theory. The mass accretion rates through the postulated disks cover a wide range, {\\dot{M}}{disk}≃ 4{--}190 {M}⊙ {{yr}}-1, with most of the objects (80%) having {\\dot{M}}{disk}≃ 10{--}65 {M}⊙ {{yr}}-1, confirming the Eddington-limited nature of the accretion flows. By combining our estimates of {\\dot{M}}{disk} with conservative, lower limits on the bolometric luminosities of the quasars, we investigate which alternative values of η best account for all the available data. We find that the vast majority of quasars (˜85%) can be explained with radiative efficiencies in the range η ≃ 0.03{--}0.3, with a median value close to the commonly assumed η = 0.1. Within this range, we obtain conservative estimates of η ≳ 0.14 for ULAS J1120 and SDSS J0100 (at z = 6.3), and of ≳ 0.19 for SDSS J1148 (at z=6.41; assuming their BH masses are accurate). The implied accretion timescales are generally in the range {t}{acc}\\equiv {M}{BH}/{\\dot{M}}{BH}≃ 0.1{--}1 {Gyr}, suggesting that most quasars could have had ˜ 1{--}10 mass e-foldings since BH seed formation. Our analysis therefore demonstrates that the available luminosities and masses for the highest-redshift quasars can be explained self-consistently within the thin, radiatively efficient accretion disk paradigm. Episodes of radiatively inefficient, “super-critical” accretion may have occurred at significantly earlier epochs (I.e., z≳ 10).

SMA Continuum Survey of Circumstellar Disks in Serpens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Law, Charles; Ricci, Luca; Andrews, Sean M.; Wilner, David J.; Qi, Chunhua

2017-06-01

The lifetime of disks surrounding pre-main-sequence stars is closely linked to planet formation and provides information on disk dispersal mechanisms and dissipation timescales. The potential for these optically thick, gas-rich disks to form planets is critically dependent on how much dust is available to be converted into terrestrial planets and rocky cores of giant planets. For this reason, an understanding of how dust mass varies with key properties such as stellar mass, age, and environment is critical for understanding planet formation. Millimeter wavelength observations, in which the dust emission is optically thin, are required to study the colder dust residing in the disk’s outer regions and to measure disk dust masses. Hence, we have obtained SMA 1.3 mm continuum observations of 62 Class II sources with suspected circumstellar disks in the Serpens star-forming region (SFR). Relative to the well-studied Taurus SFR, Serpens allows us to probe the distribution of dust masses for disks in a much denser and more clustered environment. Only 13 disks were detected in the continuum with the SMA. We calculate the total dust masses of these disks and compare their masses to those of disks in Taurus, Lupus, and Upper Scorpius. We do not find evidence of diminished dust masses in Serpens disks relative to those in Taurus despite the fact that disks in denser clusters may be expected to contain less dust mass due to stronger and more frequent tidal interactions that can disrupt the outer regions of disks. However, considering the low detection fraction, we likely detected only bright continuum sources and a more sensitive survey of Serpens would help clarify these results.

Photon Bubbles and the Vertical Structure of Accretion Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Begelman, Mitchell C.

2006-06-01

We consider the effects of ``photon bubble'' shock trains on the vertical structure of radiation pressure-dominated accretion disks. These density inhomogeneities are expected to develop spontaneously in radiation-dominated accretion disks where magnetic pressure exceeds gas pressure, even in the presence of magnetorotational instability (MRI). They increase the rate at which radiation escapes from the disk and may allow disks to exceed the Eddington limit by a substantial factor without blowing themselves apart. To refine our earlier analysis of photon bubble transport in accretion disks, we generalize the theory of photon bubbles to include the effects of finite optical depths and radiation damping. Modifications to the diffusion law at low τ tend to ``fill in'' the low-density regions of photon bubbles, while radiation damping inhibits the formation of photon bubbles at large radii, small accretion rates, and small heights above the equatorial plane. Accretion disks dominated by photon bubble transport may reach luminosities from 10 to >100 times the Eddington limit (LEdd), depending on the mass of the central object, while remaining geometrically thin. However, photon bubble-dominated disks with α-viscosity are subject to the same thermal and viscous instabilities that plague standard radiation pressure-dominated disks, suggesting that they may be intrinsically unsteady. Photon bubbles can lead to a ``core-halo'' vertical disk structure. In super-Eddington disks the halo forms the base of a wind, which carries away substantial energy and mass, but not enough to prevent the luminosity from exceeding LEdd. Photon bubble-dominated disks may have smaller color corrections than standard accretion disks of the same luminosity. They remain viable contenders for some ultraluminous X-ray sources and may play a role in the rapid growth of supermassive black holes at high redshift.

Ultrafast disk technology enables next generation micromachining laser sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heckl, Oliver H.; Weiler, Sascha; Luzius, Severin; Zawischa, Ivo; Sutter, Dirk

2013-02-01

Ultrashort pulsed lasers based on thin disk technology have entered the 100 W regime and deliver several tens of MW peak power without chirped pulse amplification. Highest uptime and insensitivity to back reflections make them ideal tools for efficient and cost effective industrial micromachining. Frequency converted versions allow the processing of a large variety of materials. On one hand, thin disk oscillators deliver more than 30 MW peak power directly out of the resonator in laboratory setups. These peak power levels are made possible by recent progress in the scaling of the pulse energy in excess of 40 μJ. At the corresponding high peak intensity, thin disk technology profits from the limited amount of material and hence the manageable nonlinearity within the resonator. Using new broadband host materials like for example the sesquioxides will eventually reduce the pulse duration during high power operation and further increase the peak power. On the other hand industry grade amplifier systems deliver even higher peak power levels. At closed-loop controlled 100W, the TruMicro Series 5000 currently offers the highest average ultrafast power in an industry proven product, and enables efficient micromachining of almost any material, in particular of glasses, ceramics or sapphire. Conventional laser cutting of these materials often requires UV laser sources with pulse durations of several nanoseconds and an average power in the 10 W range. Material processing based on high peak power laser sources makes use of multi-photon absorption processes. This highly nonlinear absorption enables micromachining driven by the fundamental (1030 nm) or frequency doubled (515 nm) wavelength of Yb:YAG. Operation in the IR or green spectral range reduces the complexity and running costs of industrial systems initially based on UV light sources. Where UV wavelength is required, the TruMicro 5360 with a specified UV crystal life-time of more than 10 thousand hours of continues operation at 15W is an excellent choice. Currently this is the world's most powerful industrial sub-10 ps UV laser.

ALMA Measurements of Circumstellar Material in the GQ Lup System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilner, David J.; MacGregor, Meredith A.; Czekala, Ian; Andrews, Sean M.; Dai, Yu Sophia; Herczeg, Gregory; Kratter, Kaitlin M.; Kraus, Adam L.; Ricci, Luca; Testi, Leonardo

2017-01-01

We present ALMA observations of the GQ Lup system, a young Sun-like star with a substellar mass companion in a wide-separation orbit. These observations of 870 micron continuum and CO J=3-2 line emission with beam 0.3 arcsec (45 AU) resolve the disk of dust and gas surrounding the primary star, GQ Lup A, and provide deep limits on any circumplanetary disk surrounding the companion, GQ Lup b. The 3 sigma upper limit on the 870 micron flux density of < 0.15 mJy implies an upper limit on the GQ Lup b disk mass of about 0.04 solar masses for standard assumptions about optically thin dust emission. Given the non-detection of a circumplanetary disk around GQ Lup b, and other similar systems observed by ALMA, we discuss implications for formation mechanisms of wide-separation substellar companions.

Dissipative dark matter and the Andromeda plane of satellites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Randall, Lisa; Scholtz, Jakub, E-mail: randall@physics.harvard.edu, E-mail: jscholtz@physics.harvard.edu

We show that dissipative dark matter can potentially explain the large observed mass to light ratio of the dwarf satellite galaxies that have been observed in the recently identified planar structure around Andromeda, which are thought to result from tidal forces during a galaxy merger. Whereas dwarf galaxies created from ordinary disks would be dark matter poor, dark matter inside the galactic plane not only provides a source of dark matter, but one that is more readily bound due to the dark matter's lower velocity. This initial N-body study shows that with a thin disk of dark matter inside themore » baryonic disk, mass-to-light ratios as high as O(90) can be generated when tidal forces pull out patches of sizes similar to the scales of Toomre instabilities of the dark disk. A full simulation will be needed to confirm this result.« less

Amorphous carbon in the disk around the post-AGB binary HR 4049. Discerning dust species with featureless opacity curves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acke, B.; Degroote, P.; Lombaert, R.; de Vries, B. L.; Smolders, K.; Verhoelst, T.; Lagadec, E.; Gielen, C.; Van Winckel, H.; Waelkens, C.

2013-03-01

Context. Infrared spectroscopy has been extensively used to determine the mineralogy of circumstellar dust. The identification of dust species with featureless opacities, however, is still ambiguous. Here we present a method to lift the degeneracy using the combination of infrared spectroscopy and interferometry. Aims: The binary post-AGB star HR 4049 is surrounded by a circumbinary disk viewed at a high inclination angle. Apart from gaseous emission lines and molecular emission bands of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), diamonds, and fullerenes, the 2-25 μm infrared spectrum is featureless. The goal of the paper is to identify the dust species responsible for the smooth spectrum. Methods: We gathered high-angular-resolution measurements in the near- and mid-infrared with the VLTI interferometric instruments AMBER and MIDI. The data set is expanded with archival Geneva optical photometry, ISO-SWS and Spitzer-IRS infrared spectroscopy, and VISIR N-band images and spectroscopy. We computed a grid of radiative-transfer models of the circumbinary disk of HR 4049 using the radiative-transfer code MCMax. We searched for models that provide good fits simultaneously to all available observations. Results: We find that the variable optical extinction towards the primary star is consistent with the presence of very small (0.01 μm) iron-bearing dust grains or amorphous carbon grains. The combination of the interferometric constraint on the disk extent and the shape of the infrared spectrum points to amorphous carbon as the dominant source of opacity in the circumbinary disk of HR 4049. The disk is optically thick to the stellar radiation in the radial direction. At infrared wavelengths it is optically thin. The PAH emission is spatially resolved in the VISIR data and emanates from a region with an extent of several hundreds of AU, with a projected photocenter displacement of several tens of AU from the disk center. The PAHs most likely reside in a bipolar outflow. Conclusions: Dust species with featureless opacity curves, such as metallic iron and amorphous carbon, can be identified by combining infrared spectroscopy and high-angular-resolution measurements. In essence, this is because the temperatures of the dust species are notably different at the same physical distance to the star. Appendices A and B are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Hard X-Ray-emitting Black Hole Fed by Accretion of Low Angular Momentum Matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Igumenshchev, Igor V.; Illarionov, Andrei F.; Abramowicz, Marek A.

1999-05-01

Observed spectra of active galactic nuclei and luminous X-ray binaries in our Galaxy suggest that both hot (~109 K) and cold (~106 K) plasma components exist close to the central accreting black hole. The hard X-ray component of the spectra is usually explained by Compton upscattering of optical/UV photons from optically thick cold plasma by hot electrons. Observations also indicate that some of these objects are quite efficient in converting gravitational energy of accretion matter into radiation. Existing theoretical models have difficulties in explaining the two plasma components and high intensity of hard X-rays. Most of the models assume that the hot component emerges from the cold one because of some kind of instability, but no one offers a satisfactory physical explanation for this. Here we propose a solution to these difficulties that reverses what was imagined previously: in our model, the hot component forms first and afterward it cools down to form the cold component. In our model, the accretion flow initially has a small angular momentum, and thus it has a quasi-spherical geometry at large radii. Close to the black hole, the accreting matter is heated up in shocks that form because of the action of the centrifugal force. The hot postshock matter is very efficiently cooled down by Comptonization of low-energy photons and condensates into a thin and cool accretion disk. The thin disk emits the low-energy photons which cool the hot component. All the properties of our model, in particular the existence of hot and cold components, follow from an exact numerical solution of standard hydrodynamical equations--we postulate no unknown processes operating in the flow. In contrast to the recently discussed advection-dominated accretion flow, the particular type of accretion flow considered in this Letter is both very hot and quite radiatively efficient.

Evolution in the Dust Lane Fraction of Edge-on L* V Spiral Galaxies Since z = 0.8

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holwerda, B. W.; Dalcanton, J. J.; Radburn-Smith, D.; de Jong, R. S.; Guhathakurta, P.; Koekemoer, A.; Allen, R. J.; Böker, T.

2012-07-01

The presence of a well-defined and narrow dust lane in an edge-on spiral galaxy is the observational signature of a thin and dense molecular disk, in which gravitational collapse has overcome turbulence. Using a sample of galaxies out to z ~ 1 extracted from the COSMOS survey, we identify the fraction of massive (L* V ) disks that display a dust lane. Our goal is to explore the evolution in the stability of the molecular interstellar medium (ISM) disks in spiral galaxies over a cosmic timescale. We check the reliability of our morphological classifications against changes in rest-frame wavelength, resolution, and cosmic dimming with (artificially redshifted) images of local galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the fraction of L* V disks with dust lanes in COSMOS is consistent with the local fraction (≈80%) out to z ~ 0.7. At z = 0.8, the dust lane fraction is only slightly lower. A somewhat lower dust lane fraction in starbursting galaxies tentatively supports the notion that a high specific star formation rate can efficiently destroy or inhibit a dense molecular disk. A small subsample of higher redshift COSMOS galaxies display low internal reddening (E[B - V]), as well as a low incidence of dust lanes. These may be disks in which the growth of the dusty ISM disk lags behind that of the stellar disk. We note that at z = 0.8, the most massive galaxies display a lower dust lane fraction than lower mass galaxies. A small contribution of recent mergers or starbursts to this most massive population may be responsible. The fact that the fraction of galaxies with dust lanes in COSMOS is consistent with little or no evolution implies that models to explain the spectral energy distribution or the host galaxy dust extinction of supernovae based on local galaxies are still applicable to higher redshift spirals. It also suggests that dust lanes are long-lived phenomena or can be reformed over very short timescales.

EVOLUTION IN THE DUST LANE FRACTION OF EDGE-ON L*{sub V} SPIRAL GALAXIES SINCE z = 0.8

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Holwerda, B. W.; Boeker, T.; Dalcanton, J. J.

2012-07-01

The presence of a well-defined and narrow dust lane in an edge-on spiral galaxy is the observational signature of a thin and dense molecular disk, in which gravitational collapse has overcome turbulence. Using a sample of galaxies out to z {approx} 1 extracted from the COSMOS survey, we identify the fraction of massive (L*{sub V}) disks that display a dust lane. Our goal is to explore the evolution in the stability of the molecular interstellar medium (ISM) disks in spiral galaxies over a cosmic timescale. We check the reliability of our morphological classifications against changes in rest-frame wavelength, resolution, andmore » cosmic dimming with (artificially redshifted) images of local galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the fraction of L*{sub V} disks with dust lanes in COSMOS is consistent with the local fraction ( Almost-Equal-To 80%) out to z {approx} 0.7. At z = 0.8, the dust lane fraction is only slightly lower. A somewhat lower dust lane fraction in starbursting galaxies tentatively supports the notion that a high specific star formation rate can efficiently destroy or inhibit a dense molecular disk. A small subsample of higher redshift COSMOS galaxies display low internal reddening (E[B - V]), as well as a low incidence of dust lanes. These may be disks in which the growth of the dusty ISM disk lags behind that of the stellar disk. We note that at z = 0.8, the most massive galaxies display a lower dust lane fraction than lower mass galaxies. A small contribution of recent mergers or starbursts to this most massive population may be responsible. The fact that the fraction of galaxies with dust lanes in COSMOS is consistent with little or no evolution implies that models to explain the spectral energy distribution or the host galaxy dust extinction of supernovae based on local galaxies are still applicable to higher redshift spirals. It also suggests that dust lanes are long-lived phenomena or can be reformed over very short timescales.« less

Gravitating lepton bag model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burinskii, A.

2015-08-01

The Kerr-Newman (KN) black hole (BH) solution exhibits the external gravitational and electromagnetic field corresponding to that of the Dirac electron. For the large spin/mass ratio, a ≫ m, the BH loses horizons and acquires a naked singular ring creating two-sheeted topology. This space is regularized by the Higgs mechanism of symmetry breaking, leading to an extended particle that has a regular spinning core compatible with the external KN solution. We show that this core has much in common with the known MIT and SLAC bag models, but has the important advantage of being in accordance with the external gravitational and electromagnetic fields of the KN solution. A peculiar two-sheeted structure of Kerr's gravity provides a framework for the implementation of the Higgs mechanism of symmetry breaking in configuration space in accordance with the concept of the electroweak sector of the Standard Model. Similar to other bag models, the KN bag is flexible and pliant to deformations. For parameters of a spinning electron, the bag takes the shape of a thin rotating disk of the Compton radius, with a ring-string structure and a quark-like singular pole formed at the sharp edge of this disk, indicating that the considered lepton bag forms a single bag-string-quark system.

Gravitating lepton bag model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burinskii, A., E-mail: burinskii@mail.ru

The Kerr–Newman (KN) black hole (BH) solution exhibits the external gravitational and electromagnetic field corresponding to that of the Dirac electron. For the large spin/mass ratio, a ≫ m, the BH loses horizons and acquires a naked singular ring creating two-sheeted topology. This space is regularized by the Higgs mechanism of symmetry breaking, leading to an extended particle that has a regular spinning core compatible with the external KN solution. We show that this core has much in common with the known MIT and SLAC bag models, but has the important advantage of being in accordance with the external gravitationalmore » and electromagnetic fields of the KN solution. A peculiar two-sheeted structure of Kerr’s gravity provides a framework for the implementation of the Higgs mechanism of symmetry breaking in configuration space in accordance with the concept of the electroweak sector of the Standard Model. Similar to other bag models, the KN bag is flexible and pliant to deformations. For parameters of a spinning electron, the bag takes the shape of a thin rotating disk of the Compton radius, with a ring–string structure and a quark-like singular pole formed at the sharp edge of this disk, indicating that the considered lepton bag forms a single bag–string–quark system.« less

The origin and evolution of the odd-Z iron-peak elements Sc, V, Mn, and Co in the Milky Way stellar disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battistini, Chiara; Bensby, Thomas

2015-05-01

Context. Elements heavier than Li are produced in the interiors of stars. However, for many elements the exact production sites and the timescales on which they are dispersed into the interstellar medium are unknown. Having a clear picture on the origins of the elements is important for our ability to trace and understand the formation and chemical evolution of the Milky Way and its stellar populations. Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the origin and evolution of Sc, V, Mn, and Co for a homogeneous and statistically significant sample of stars probing the different populations of the Milky Way, in particular the thin and thick disks. Methods: Using high-resolution spectra obtained with the MIKE, FEROS, SOFIN, FIES, UVES, and HARPS spectrographs, we determine Sc, V, Mn, and Co abundances for a large sample of F and G dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. The method is based on spectral synthesis and using one-dimensional, plane-parallel, local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) model stellar atmospheres calculated with the MARCS 2012 code. The non-LTE (NLTE) corrections from the literature were applied to Mn and Co. Results: We find that the abundance trends derived for Sc (594 stars), V (466 stars), and Co (567 stars) are very similar to what has been observed for the α-elements in the thin and thick disks. On the contrary, Mn (569 stars) is generally underabundant relative to the Sun (i.e., [ Mn/Fe ] < 0) for [ Fe/H ] < 0. In addition, for Mn, when NLTE corrections are applied, the trend changes and is almost flat over the entire metallicity range of the stars in our sample (-2 ≲ [ Fe/H ] ≲ + 0.4). The [Sc/Fe]-[Fe/H] abundance trends show a small separation between the thin and thick disks, while for V and Co they completely overlap. For Mn there is a small difference in [Mn/Fe], but only when NLTE corrections are used. Comparisons with Ti as a reference element show flat trends for all the elements except for Mn that show well separated [Mn/Ti]-[Ti/H] trends for the thin and thick disks. Conclusions: The elements Sc and V present trends compatible with production from type II supernovae (SNII) events. In addition, Sc clearly shows a metallicity dependence for [ Fe/H ] < -1. Instead, Mn is produced in SNII events for [ Fe/H ] ≲ -0.4 and then type Ia supernovae start to produce Mn. Finally, Co appears to be produced mainly in SNII with suggestion of enrichment from hypernovae at low metallicities. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at the Las Campanas Observatory, Chile; the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) on La Palma, Spain; the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on Paranal, Chile (ESO Proposal ID 69.B-0277 and 72.B-0179); the ESO 1.5-m, 2.2-m. and 3.6-m telescopes on La Silla, Chile (ESO Proposal ID 65.L-0019, 67.B-0108, 76.B-0416, 82.B-0610); and data from UVES Paranal Observatory Project (ESO DDT Program ID 266.D-5655).Full versions of Tables 2 and 5 are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/577/A9Appendices are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Terahertz emission from the intrinsic Josephson junctions of high-symmetry thermally-managed Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ microstrip antennas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klemm, Richard A.; Davis, Andrew E.; Wang, Qing X.; Yamamoto, Takashi; Cerkoney, Daniel P.; Reid, Candy; Koopman, Maximiliaan L.; Minami, Hidetoshi; Kashiwagi, Takanari; Rain, Joseph R.; Doty, Constance M.; Sedlack, Michael A.; Morales, Manuel A.; Watanabe, Chiharu; Tsujimoto, Manabu; Delfanazari, Kaveh; Kadowaki, Kazuo

2017-12-01

We show for high-symmetry disk, square, or equilateral triangular thin microstrip antennas of any composition respectively obeying C ∞v , C 4v , and C 3v point group symmetries, that the transverse magnetic electromagnetic cavity mode wave functions are restricted in form to those that are one-dimensional representations of those point groups. Plots of the common nodal points of the ten lowest-energy non-radiating two-dimensional representations of each of these three symmetries are presented. For comparison with symmetry-broken disk intrinsic Josephson junction microstrip antennas constructed from the highly anisotropic layered superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO), we present plots of the ten lowest frequency orthonormal wave functions and of their emission power angular distributions. These results are compared with previous results for square and equilateral triangular thin microstrip antennas.

Subpicosecond thin-disk laser oscillator with pulse energies of up to 25.9 microjoules by use of an active multipass geometry.

PubMed

Neuhaus, Joerg; Bauer, Dominik; Zhang, Jing; Killi, Alexander; Kleinbauer, Jochen; Kumkar, Malte; Weiler, Sascha; Guina, Mircea; Sutter, Dirk H; Dekorsy, Thomas

2008-12-08

The pulse shaping dynamics of a diode-pumped laser oscillator with active multipass cell was studied experimentally and numerically. We demonstrate the generation of high energy subpicosecond pulses with a pulse energy of up to 25.9 microJ at a pulse duration of 928 fs directly from a thin-disk laser oscillator. These results are achieved by employing a selfimaging active multipass geometry operated in ambient atmosphere. Stable single pulse operation has been obtained with an average output power in excess of 76 W and at a repetition rate of 2.93 MHz. Self starting passive mode locking was accomplished using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The experimental results are compared with numerical simulations, showing good agreement including the appearance of Kelly sidebands. Furthermore, a modified soliton-area theorem for approximating the pulse duration is presented. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America

Excitation of Non-Axisymmetric g-MOde Oscillations by Corotation Resonance in Thin Relativistic Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, Shoji

2002-02-01

Various modes of oscillations are trapped in the inner region of geometrically thin relativistic disks. Among these oscillations, non-axisymmetric g-mode oscillations have been less studied compared with other modes of oscillations. The modes are, however, interesting since a corotation resonance appears in the trapped region. We mathematically examine whether the modes can be excited by the effects of the corotation resonance. This examination is made under an assumption that the inner and outer Lindblad radii are sufficiently separated in the opposite directions from the corotation radius. The results of analyses suggest that the waves are excited by the corotation resonance. The presence of the excitation suggests that the non-axisymmetric trapped g-mode oscillations are one of possible candidates for the quasi-periodic oscillations of a few hundred to kHz observed in some X-ray sources.

Electromagnetic jets from stars and black holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gralla, Samuel E.; Lupsasca, Alexandru; Rodriguez, Maria J.

2016-02-01

We present analytic force-free solutions modeling rotating stars and black holes immersed in the magnetic field of a thin disk that terminates at an inner radius. The solutions are exact in flat spacetime and approximate in Kerr spacetime. The compact object produces a conical jet whose properties carry information about its nature. For example, the jet from a star is surrounded by a current sheet, while that of a black hole is smooth. We compute an effective resistance in each case and compare to the canonical values used in circuit models of energy extraction. These solutions illustrate all of the basic features of the Blandford-Znajek process for energy extraction and jet formation in a clean setting.

TIME DELAY AND ACCRETION DISK SIZE MEASUREMENTS IN THE LENSED QUASAR SBS 0909+532 FROM MULTIWAVELENGTH MICROLENSING ANALYSIS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hainline, Laura J.; Morgan, Christopher W.; MacLeod, Chelsea L.

2013-09-01

We present three complete seasons and two half-seasons of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) r-band photometry of the gravitationally lensed quasar SBS 0909+532 from the U.S. Naval Observatory, as well as two seasons each of SDSS g-band and r-band monitoring from the Liverpool Robotic Telescope. Using Monte Carlo simulations to simultaneously measure the system's time delay and model the r-band microlensing variability, we confirm and significantly refine the precision of the system's time delay to {Delta}t{sub AB} = 50{sub -4}{sup +2} days, where the stated uncertainties represent the bounds of the formal 1{sigma} confidence interval. There may be a conflictmore » between the time delay measurement and a lens consisting of a single galaxy. While models based on the Hubble Space Telescope astrometry and a relatively compact stellar distribution can reproduce the observed delay, the models have somewhat less dark matter than we would typically expect. We also carry out a joint analysis of the microlensing variability in the r and g bands to constrain the size of the quasar's continuum source at these wavelengths, obtaining log {l_brace}(r{sub s,r}/cm)[cos i/0.5]{sup 1/2}{r_brace} = 15.3 {+-} 0.3 and log {l_brace}(r{sub s,g}/cm)[cos i/0.5]{sup 1/2}{r_brace} = 14.8 {+-} 0.9, respectively. Our current results do not formally constrain the temperature profile of the accretion disk but are consistent with the expectations of standard thin disk theory.« less

Radiochemical purity of Mo and Tc solution obtained after irradiation and dissolution of Mo-100-enriched and ultra-high-purity natural Mo disks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tkac, Peter; Gromov, Roman; Chemerisov, Sergey D.

2016-09-01

Four irradiations of ultra-high-purity natural Mo targets and one irradiation using 97.4% Mo-100-enriched material were performed. The purpose of these irradiations was to determine whether the presence of Sn stabilizer in the H 2O 2 used for the dissolution of sintered Mo disks can affect the radiochemical purity of the final K 2MoO 4 in 5M KOH solution. Results from radiochemical purity tests performed using thin-layer paper chromatography show that even 2– 3× excess of Sn-stabilized H 2O 2 typically used for dissolution of sintered Mo disks did not affect the radiochemical purity of the final product.

FastSim: A Fast Simulation for the SuperB Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreassen, R.; Arnaud, N.; Brown, D. N.; Burmistrov, L.; Carlson, J.; Cheng, C.-h.; Di Simone, A.; Gaponenko, I.; Manoni, E.; Perez, A.; Rama, M.; Roberts, D.; Rotondo, M.; Simi, G.; Sokoloff, M.; Suzuki, A.; Walsh, J.

2011-12-01

We have developed a parameterized (fast) simulation for detector optimization and physics reach studies of the proposed SuperB Flavor Factory in Italy. Detector components are modeled as thin sections of planes, cylinders, disks or cones. Particle-material interactions are modeled using simplified cross-sections and formulas. Active detectors are modeled using parameterized response functions. Geometry and response parameters are configured using xml files with a custom-designed schema. Reconstruction algorithms adapted from BaBar are used to build tracks and clusters. Multiple sources of background signals can be merged with primary signals. Pattern recognition errors are modeled statistically by randomly misassigning nearby tracking hits. Standard BaBar analysis tuples are used as an event output. Hadronic B meson pair events can be simulated at roughly 10Hz.

Computational and theoretical analysis of free surface flow in a thin liquid film under zero and normal gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Faghri, Amir; Swanson, Theodore D.

1988-01-01

The results of a numerical computation and theoretical analysis are presented for the flow of a thin liquid film in the presence and absence of a gravitational body force. Five different flow systems were used. Also presented are the governing equations and boundary conditions for the situation of a thin liquid emanating from a pressure vessel; traveling along a horizontal plate with a constant initial height and uniform initial velocity; and traveling radially along a horizontal disk with a constant initial height and uniform initial velocity.

Invited Review Article: Review of centrifugal microfluidic and bio-optical disks

PubMed Central

Nolte, David D.

2009-01-01

Spinning biodisks have advantages that make them attractive for specialized biochip applications. The two main classes of spinning biodisks are microfluidic disks and bio-optical compact disks (BioCD). Microfluidic biodisks take advantage of noninertial pumping for lab-on-a-chip devices using noninertial valves and switches under centrifugal and Coriolis forces to distribute fluids about the disks. BioCDs use spinning-disk interferometry, under the condition of common-path phase quadrature, to perform interferometric label-free detection of molecular recognition and binding. The optical detection of bound molecules on a disk is facilitated by rapid spinning that enables high-speed repetitive sampling to eliminate 1∕f noise through common-mode rejection of intensity fluctuations and extensive signal averaging. Multiple quadrature classes have been developed, such as microdiffraction, in-line, phase contrast, and holographic adaptive optics. Thin molecular films are detected through the surface dipole density with a surface height sensitivity for the detection of protein spots that is approximately 1 pm. This sensitivity easily resolves a submonolayer of solid-support immobilized antibodies and their antigen targets. Fluorescence and light scattering provide additional optical detection techniques on spinning disks. Immunoassays have been applied to haptoglobin using protein A∕G immobilization of antibodies and to prostate specific antigen. Small protein spots enable scalability to many spots per disk for high-throughput and highly multiplexed immonoassays. PMID:19895047

Blue lobes in the Hydra A cluster central galaxy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcnamara, Brian R.

1995-01-01

We present new U- and I-band images of the centrally dominant galaxy in the Hydra A cluster, obtained with the 2.5 m Isaac Newton Telescope at La Palma. The galaxy is centered in a poor, X-ray-luminous cluster whose gaseous intracluster medium is apparently cooling at a rate of m-dot(sub CF) approximately 3000 solar masses/yr. The galaxy's structure is that of a normal giant elliptical galaxy, apart from the central approximately 8 x 6 arcsec (approximately 12 x 9 kpc) region which contains an unusually blue, lobelike structure that is spatially coincident with a luminous emission-line nebula in rotation about the nucleus. Based on near spatial coincidence of the central continuum structure and the emission-line nebula, we suggest that the blue continuum is due to a warm stellar population in a central disk. In order to isolate and study the structure of the disk, we have subtracted a smooth galactic background model from the U-band image. The disk's surface brightness profiles along its major and minor axes decline roughly exponentially with radius. The disk's axial ratio is consistent with a nearly edge-on thick disk or a thin disk that is inclined with respect to the line of sight. The bluest regions, located a few arcsec on either side of the nucleus (giving the lobelike appearance), may be due to locally enhanced star formation or a seeing-blurred ring of young stars embedded in the disk observed nearly edge-on. If star-formation is occurring with the local initial mass function, the central color, surface brightness, and dynamical mass would be consistent with models for star formation at a rate of less than and approximately 1 solar masses/yr which has persisted for the past approximately 10(exp 9) yr, a short burst (10(exp 7) yr) of star formation at a rate of approximately 30 solar masses/yr which occurred less than and approximately 10(exp 8) yr ago, or an instantaneous burst of star formation which occurred approximately 5 x 10(exp 7) yr ago. While the young population contributes approximately 30%-40% of the central U-band luminosity, its mass would be less than and approximately 1% to less than and approximately 10% (10(exp 8) solar masses - 2 x 10(exp 9) solar masses of the galaxy's central dynamical mass. We consider a number of possible origins for the disk material.

Mapping a stellar disk into a boxy bulge: The outside-in part of the Milky Way bulge formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Matteo, P.; Haywood, M.; Gómez, A.; van Damme, L.; Combes, F.; Hallé, A.; Semelin, B.; Lehnert, M. D.; Katz, D.

2014-07-01

By means of idealized, dissipationless N-body simulations that follow the formation and subsequent buckling of a stellar bar, we study the characteristics of boxy/peanut-shaped bulges and compare them with the properties of the stellar populations in the Milky Way (MW) bulge. The main results of our modeling, valid for the general family of boxy/peanut shaped bulges, are the following: (i) Because of the spatial redistribution in the disk initiated at the epoch of bar formation, stars from the innermost regions to the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR) of the stellar bar are mapped into a boxy bulge. (ii) The contribution of stars to the local bulge density depends on their birth radius: stars born in the innermost disk tend to dominate the innermost regions of the boxy bulge, while stars originating closer to the OLR are preferably found in the outer regions of the boxy/peanut structure. (iii) Stellar birth radii are imprinted in the bulge kinematics: the larger the birth radii of stars ending up in the bulge, the greater their rotational support and the higher their line-of-sight velocity dispersions (but note that this last trend depends on the bar viewing angle). (iv) The higher the classical bulge-over-disk ratio, the larger its fractional contribution of stars at large vertical distance from the galaxy midplane. Comparing these results with the properties of the stellar populations of the MW bulge recently revealed by the ARGOS survey, we conclude that (I) the two most metal-rich populations of the MW bulge, labeled A and B in the ARGOS survey, originate in the disk, with the population of A having formed on average closer to the Galaxy center than the population of component B; (II) a massive (B/D ~ 0.25) classical spheroid can be excluded for the MW, thus confirming previous findings that the MW bulge is composed of populations that mostly have a disk origin. On the basis of their chemical and kinematic characteristics, the results of our modeling suggest that the populations A, B, and C, as defined by the ARGOS survey, can be associated, respectively, with the inner thin disk, to the young thick and to the old thick disk, following the nomenclature that we recently suggested for stars in the solar neighborhood. Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Primordial black holes as seeds of magnetic fields in the universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safarzadeh, Mohammadtaher

2018-06-01

Although it is assumed that magnetic fields in accretion disks are dragged from the interstellar medium, the idea is likely not applicable to primordial black holes (PBHs) formed in the early universe. Here we show that magnetic fields can be generated in initially unmagnetized accretion disks around PBHs through the Biermann battery mechanism, and therefore provide the small scale seeds of magnetic field in the universe. The radial temperature and vertical density profiles of these disks provide the necessary conditions for the battery to operate naturally. The generated seed fields have a toroidal structure with opposite sign in the upper and lower half of the disk. In the case of a thin accretion disk around a rotating PBH, the field generation rate increases with increasing PBH spin. At a fixed r/risco, where r is the radial distance from the PBH and risco is the radius of the innermost stable circular orbit, the battery scales as M-9/4, where M is the PBH's mass. The very weak dependency of the battery on accretion rate, makes this mechanism a viable candidate to provide seed fields in an initially unmagnetized accretion disk, following which the magnetorotational instability could take over.

The energy source of the most energetic giant outbursts in MS 0735 + 7421

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shuang-Liang

2013-02-01

In this work, we investigate the power source of the most energetic giant outbursts in MS 0735 + 7421, which released ~ 1062 erg of energy. Due to the very high mean jet power in the cavities (P jet/L Edd ~ 0.02), we produce several jet formation models based on a relativistic thin disk model, i.e., general BP + BZ mechanisms (model A), Livio's (model B) and Meier's (model C) model, to explain the giant outbursts in AGNs. It is found that the energy provided by both model B and model C are inadequate for an initial black hole spin a 0 ~ 0.1, only model A can explain the most violent outbursts in MS 0735 + 7421. But if the initial black hole spin a 0 ~ 0.95, model B can also blow up the cavity. The final spin of the black hole is found to be very high in spite of the initial spin.

Warping and tearing of misaligned circumbinary disks around eccentric supermassive black hole binaries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hayasaki, K.; Sohn, B.W.; Jung, T.

2015-07-01

We study the warping and tearing of a geometrically thin, non-self-gravitating disk surrounding binary supermassive black holes on an eccentric orbit. The circumbinary disk is significantly misaligned with the binary orbital plane, and is subject to the time-dependent tidal torques. In principle, such a disk is warped and precesses, and is torn into mutually misaligned rings in the region, where the tidal precession torques are stronger than the local viscous torques. We derive the tidal-warp and tearing radii of the misaligned circumbinary disks around eccentric SMBH binaries. We find that in disks with the viscosity parameter α larger than amore » critical value depending on the disk aspect ratio, the disk warping appears outside the tearing radius. This condition is expressed for small amplitude warps as α > √H/(3r) for H/r∼<0.1, where H is the disk scale height. If α < √H/(3r), only the disk tearing occurs because the tidal warp radius is inside the tearing radius, where most of disk material is likely to rapidly accrete onto SMBHs. In warped and torn disks, both the tidal-warp and the tearing radii most strongly depend on the binary semi-major axis, although they also mildly depend on the other orbital and disk parameters. This strong dependence enables us to estimate the semi-major axis, once the tidal warp or tearing radius is determined observationally: for the tidal warp radius of 0.1 pc, the semi-major axis is estimated to be ∼10{sup −2} pc for 10{sup 7} M{sub ⊙} black hole with typical orbital and disk parameters. We also briefly discuss the possibility that central objects of observed warped maser disks in active galactic nuclei are supermassive black hole binaries.« less

SAPNEW: Parallel finite element code for thin shell structures on the Alliant FX/80

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamat, Manohar P.; Watson, Brian C.

1992-02-01

The results of a research activity aimed at providing a finite element capability for analyzing turbo-machinery bladed-disk assemblies in a vector/parallel processing environment are summarized. Analysis of aircraft turbofan engines is very computationally intensive. The performance limit of modern day computers with a single processing unit was estimated at 3 billions of floating point operations per second (3 gigaflops). In view of this limit of a sequential unit, performance rates higher than 3 gigaflops can be achieved only through vectorization and/or parallelization as on Alliant FX/80. Accordingly, the efforts of this critically needed research were geared towards developing and evaluating parallel finite element methods for static and vibration analysis. A special purpose code, named with the acronym SAPNEW, performs static and eigen analysis of multi-degree-of-freedom blade models built-up from flat thin shell elements.

Isothermal dehydration of thin films of water and sugar solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heyd, R.; Rampino, A.; Bellich, B.; Elisei, E.; Cesàro, A.; Saboungi, M.-L.

2014-03-01

The process of quasi-isothermal dehydration of thin films of pure water and aqueous sugar solutions is investigated with a dual experimental and theoretical approach. A nanoporous paper disk with a homogeneous internal structure was used as a substrate. This experimental set-up makes it possible to gather thermodynamic data under well-defined conditions, develop a numerical model, and extract needed information about the dehydration process, in particular the water activity. It is found that the temperature evolution of the pure water film is not strictly isothermal during the drying process, possibly due to the influence of water diffusion through the cellulose web of the substrate. The role of sugar is clearly detectable and its influence on the dehydration process can be identified. At the end of the drying process, trehalose molecules slow down the diffusion of water molecules through the substrate in a more pronounced way than do the glucose molecules.

SAPNEW: Parallel finite element code for thin shell structures on the Alliant FX/80

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kamat, Manohar P.; Watson, Brian C.

1992-01-01

The results of a research activity aimed at providing a finite element capability for analyzing turbo-machinery bladed-disk assemblies in a vector/parallel processing environment are summarized. Analysis of aircraft turbofan engines is very computationally intensive. The performance limit of modern day computers with a single processing unit was estimated at 3 billions of floating point operations per second (3 gigaflops). In view of this limit of a sequential unit, performance rates higher than 3 gigaflops can be achieved only through vectorization and/or parallelization as on Alliant FX/80. Accordingly, the efforts of this critically needed research were geared towards developing and evaluating parallel finite element methods for static and vibration analysis. A special purpose code, named with the acronym SAPNEW, performs static and eigen analysis of multi-degree-of-freedom blade models built-up from flat thin shell elements.

Isothermal dehydration of thin films of water and sugar solutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heyd, R.; Rampino, A.; Laboratory of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, University of Trieste, Via Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste

The process of quasi-isothermal dehydration of thin films of pure water and aqueous sugar solutions is investigated with a dual experimental and theoretical approach. A nanoporous paper disk with a homogeneous internal structure was used as a substrate. This experimental set-up makes it possible to gather thermodynamic data under well-defined conditions, develop a numerical model, and extract needed information about the dehydration process, in particular the water activity. It is found that the temperature evolution of the pure water film is not strictly isothermal during the drying process, possibly due to the influence of water diffusion through the cellulose webmore » of the substrate. The role of sugar is clearly detectable and its influence on the dehydration process can be identified. At the end of the drying process, trehalose molecules slow down the diffusion of water molecules through the substrate in a more pronounced way than do the glucose molecules.« less

Effect of blade-surface-roughness on the pumping performance of a turbomolecular pump

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawada, T.; Yabuki, M.; Sugiyama, W.; Watanabe, M.

2005-11-01

Turbomolecular pumps (TMPs) are widely used in the semiconductor and other thin film industries. Some semiconductor processes form corrosive gases such as HCl or HF as byproducts. The elements of a TMP are sometimes coated with ceramic (SiO2) film for the purpose of preventing corrosion of the TMP. The blades coated with SiO2 have relatively rough surfaces. The effect of the surface roughness of the blades on the pumping performance has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Experimental results for TMPs with two rotor disks and one stator disk show that the TMP coated with SiO2 film gives about 11% to 13% higher maximum-compression ratio than the noncoated TMP when the blade speed ratio is 0.47. The theory based on the conic peak/dimple-surface-roughness model that has been proposed by the authors explains the change in the compression ratio with the surface roughness shown in the experiment.

ON HYDRODYNAMIC MOTIONS IN DEAD ZONES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oishi, Jeffrey S.; Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark, E-mail: jsoishi@astro.berkeley.ed, E-mail: mordecai@amnh.or

We investigate fluid motions near the midplane of vertically stratified accretion disks with highly resistive midplanes. In such disks, the magnetorotational instability drives turbulence in thin layers surrounding a resistive, stable dead zone. The turbulent layers in turn drive motions in the dead zone. We examine the properties of these motions using three-dimensional, stratified, local, shearing-box, non-ideal, magnetohydrodynamical simulations. Although the turbulence in the active zones provides a source of vorticity to the midplane, no evidence for coherent vortices is found in our simulations. It appears that this is because of strong vertical oscillations in the dead zone. By analyzingmore » time series of azimuthally averaged flow quantities, we identify an axisymmetric wave mode particular to models with dead zones. This mode is reduced in amplitude, but not suppressed entirely, by changing the equation of state from isothermal to ideal. These waves are too low frequency to affect sedimentation of dust to the midplane, but may have significance for the gravitational stability of the resulting midplane dust layers.« less

Discovery of Scattering Polarization in the Hydrogen Lyα Line of the Solar Disk Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kano, R.; Trujillo Bueno, J.; Winebarger, A.; Auchère, F.; Narukage, N.; Ishikawa, R.; Kobayashi, K.; Bando, T.; Katsukawa, Y.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Giono, G.; Hara, H.; Suematsu, Y.; Shimizu, T.; Sakao, T.; Tsuneta, S.; Ichimoto, K.; Goto, M.; Belluzzi, L.; Štěpán, J.; Asensio Ramos, A.; Manso Sainz, R.; Champey, P.; Cirtain, J.; De Pontieu, B.; Casini, R.; Carlsson, M.

2017-04-01

There is a thin transition region (TR) in the solar atmosphere where the temperature rises from 10,000 K in the chromosphere to millions of degrees in the corona. Little is known about the mechanisms that dominate this enigmatic region other than the magnetic field plays a key role. The magnetism of the TR can only be detected by polarimetric measurements of a few ultraviolet (UV) spectral lines, the Lyα line of neutral hydrogen at 121.6 nm (the strongest line of the solar UV spectrum) being of particular interest given its sensitivity to the Hanle effect (the magnetic-field-induced modification of the scattering line polarization). We report the discovery of linear polarization produced by scattering processes in the Lyα line, obtained with the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) rocket experiment. The Stokes profiles observed by CLASP in quiet regions of the solar disk show that the Q/I and U/I linear polarization signals are of the order of 0.1% in the line core and up to a few percent in the nearby wings, and that both have conspicuous spatial variations with scales of ˜10 arcsec. These observations help constrain theoretical models of the chromosphere-corona TR and extrapolations of the magnetic field from photospheric magnetograms. In fact, the observed spatial variation from disk to limb of polarization at the line core and wings already challenge the predictions from three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical models of the upper solar chromosphere.

Evolutionary Calculations of Phase Separation in Crystallizing White Dwarf Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montgomery, M. H.; Klumpe, E. W.; Winget, D. E.; Wood, M. A.

1999-11-01

We present an exploration of the significance of carbon/oxygen phase separation in white dwarf stars in the context of self-consistent evolutionary calculations. Because phase separation can potentially increase the calculated ages of the oldest white dwarfs, it can affect the age of the Galactic disk as derived from the downturn in the white dwarf luminosity function. We find that the largest possible increase in ages due to phase separation is ~1.5 Gyr, with a most likely value of approximately 0.6 Gyr, depending on the parameters of our white dwarf models. The most important factors influencing the size of this delay are the total stellar mass, the initial composition profile, and the phase diagram assumed for crystallization. We find a maximum age delay in models with masses of ~0.6 Msolar, which is near the peak in the observed white dwarf mass distribution. In addition, we note that the prescription that we have adopted for the mixing during crystallization provides an upper bound for the efficiency of this process, and hence a maximum for the age delays. More realistic treatments of the mixing process may reduce the size of this effect. We find that varying the opacities (via the metallicity) has little effect on the calculated age delays. In the context of Galactic evolution, age estimates for the oldest Galactic globular clusters range from 11.5 to 16 Gyr and depend on a variety of parameters. In addition, a 4-6 Gyr delay is expected between the formation of the globular clusters and the formation of the Galactic thin disk, while the observed white dwarf luminosity function gives an age estimate for the thin disk of 9.5+1.1-0.8 Gyr, without including the effect of phase separation. Using the above numbers, we see that phase separation could add between 0 and 3 Gyr to the white dwarf ages and still be consistent with the overall picture of Galaxy formation. Our calculated maximum value of <~1.5 Gyr fits within these bounds, as does our best-guess value of ~0.6 Gyr.

SSD Market Overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, G.

The unparalleled cost and form factor advantages of NAND flash memory has driven 35 mm photographic film, floppy disks and one-inch hard drives to extinction. Due to its compelling price/performance characteristics, NAND Flash memory is now expanding its reach into the once-exclusive domain of hard disk drives and DRAM in the form of Solid State Drives (SSDs). Driven by the proliferation of thin and light mobile devices and the need for near-instantaneous accessing and sharing of content through the cloud, SSDs are expected to become a permanent fixture in the computing infrastructure.

Protoplanetary Disk Properties in the Orion Nebula Cluster: Initial Results from Deep, High-resolution ALMA Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisner, J. A.; Arce, H. G.; Ballering, N. P.; Bally, J.; Andrews, S. M.; Boyden, R. D.; Di Francesco, J.; Fang, M.; Johnstone, D.; Kim, J. S.; Mann, R. K.; Matthews, B.; Pascucci, I.; Ricci, L.; Sheehan, P. D.; Williams, J. P.

2018-06-01

We present Atacama Large Millimeter Array 850 μm continuum observations of the Orion Nebula Cluster that provide the highest angular resolution (∼0.″1 ≈ 40 au) and deepest sensitivity (∼0.1 mJy) of the region to date. We mosaicked a field containing ∼225 optical or near-IR-identified young stars, ∼60 of which are also optically identified “proplyds.” We detect continuum emission at 850 μm toward ∼80% of the proplyd sample, and ∼50% of the larger sample of previously identified cluster members. Detected objects have fluxes of ∼0.5–80 mJy. We remove submillimeter flux due to free–free emission in some objects, leaving a sample of sources detected in dust emission. Under standard assumptions of isothermal, optically thin disks, submillimeter fluxes correspond to dust masses of ∼0.5–80 Earth masses. We measure the distribution of disk sizes, and find that disks in this region are particularly compact. Such compact disks are likely to be significantly optically thick. The distributions of submillimeter flux and inferred disk size indicate smaller, lower-flux disks than in lower-density star-forming regions of similar age. Measured disk flux is correlated weakly with stellar mass, contrary to studies in other star-forming regions that found steeper correlations. We find a correlation between disk flux and distance from the massive star θ 1 Ori C, suggesting that disk properties in this region are influenced strongly by the rich cluster environment.

Understanding Supermassive Black Holes Using the Dark Energy Survey and OzDES

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mudd, Dale Montaine

I present the initial results of characterizing moderate redshift (z ≤ 2) quasars in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) by their variability. As the scales associated with supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are too small to be resolved directly, alternative methods are necessary to learn about their structure, how they grow, and how they impact their environments. One such method is through variability. Quasars are naturally variable objects, and by measuring the time delay to different emitting regions as they respond to changes in the extreme ionizing UV photons produced at the inner edge of the disk, we can estimate normally inaccessible size scales associated with SMBHs. This technique is known as reverberation mapping. I first apply this technique to probe accretion disk sizes. Only a handful of such measurements exist in the literature, sampled through reverberation mapping or gravitational microlensing. I measure time delays between the DES photometric bands to place constraints on accretion disk sizes, and then present a software extension to the JAVELIN code that provides a Bayesian framework for fitting a thin accretion disk model directly to the data rather than the individual lags themselves. This is tested on fake data as well as the highest quality dataset available for a local active galaxy, NGC 5548, before being applied to a sample of DES quasars. This new framework, under our thin disk assumption, gives competitive accretion disk sizes for quasars with our survey quality data alone, and adds over a dozen objects to the relatively small number of quasars with measured disk properties. Next, I present the serendipitous discovery of a z=0.65 low-ionization broad absorption line (LoBAL) quasar in a post-starburst galaxy in the DES data, spectroscopically confirmed with the Australian Dark Energy Survey (OzDES) project. LoBAL quasars are a minority of all BALs, and rarer still is that this object also exhibits broad FeII (an FeLoBAL) and Balmer absorption. This is the first BAL quasar that has signatures of recently truncated star formation, which we estimate ended about 40 Myr ago. The characteristic signatures of an FeLoBAL require high column densities, which could be explained by the emergence of a young quasar from an early, dust-enshrouded phase, or by clouds compressed by a blast wave. The age of the starburst component is comparable to estimates of the lifetime of quasars, so if we assume the quasar activity is related to the truncation of the star formation, this object is better explained by the blast wave scenario. Finally, I conclude with describing our efforts for the spectroscopic reverberation mapping campaign with DES and OzDES. As with the accretion disks, the goal is to measure a time delay, this time between the quasar continuum emission and the response of the broad emission lines from the broad line region. Coupled with the gas velocity dispersion from the spectra, this enables us to estimate the mass of the SMBHs, on which we will calibrate relationships to make future mass measurements far less resource intensive.

Reverse Radiative Shock Experiments Relevant to Accreting Stream-Disk Impact in Interacting Binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krauland, Christine; Drake, R. P.; Kuranz, C. K.; Huntington, C. M.; Grosskopf, M. J.; Marion, D. C.; Young, R.; Plewa, T.

2011-05-01

In many Cataclysmic Binary systems, mass onto an accretion disk produces a `hot spot’ where the infalling supersonic flow obliquely strikes the rotating accretion disk. This collision region has many ambiguities as a radiation hydrodynamic system, but shock development in the infalling flow can be modeled. Depending upon conditions, it has been argued (Armitage & Livio, ApJ 493, 898) that the shocked region may be optically thin, thick, or intermediate, which has the potential to significantly alter the hot spot's structure and emissions. We report the first experimental attempt to produce colliding flows that create a radiative reverse shock at the Omega-60 laser facility. Obtaining a radiative reverse shock in the laboratory requires producing a sufficiently fast flow (> 100 km/s) within a material whose opacity is large enough to produce energetically significant emission from experimentally achievable layers. We will discuss the experimental design, the available data, and our astrophysical context. Funded by the NNSA-DS and SC-OFES Joint Prog. in High-Energy-Density Lab. Plasmas, by the Nat. Laser User Facility Prog. in NNSA-DS and by the Predictive Sci. Acad. Alliances Prog. in NNSA-ASC, under grant numbers are DE-FG52-09NA29548, DE-FG52-09NA29034, and DE-FC52-08NA28616.

A Modern Picture of Barred Galaxy Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petersen, Michael; Weinberg, Martin; Katz, Neal

2018-01-01

Observations of disk galaxies suggest that bars are responsible for altering global galaxy parameters (e.g. structures, gas fraction, star formation rate). The canonical understanding of the mechanisms underpinning bar-driven secular dynamics in disk galaxies has been largely built upon the analysis of linear theory, despite galactic bars being clearly demonstrated to be nonlinear phenomena in n-body simulations. We present simulations of barred Milky Way-like galaxy models designed to elucidate nonlinear barred galaxy dynamics. We have developed two new methodologies for analyzing n-body simulations that give the best of both powerful analytic linear theory and brute force simulation analysis: orbit family identification and multicomponent torque analysis. The software will be offered publicly to the community for their own simulation analysis.The orbit classifier reveals that the details of kinematic components in galactic disks (e.g. the bar, bulge, thin disk, and thick disk components) are powerful discriminators of evolutionary paradigms (i.e. violent instabilities and secular evolution) as well as the basic parameters of the dark matter halo (mass distribution, angular momentum distribution). Multicomponent torque analysis provides a thorough accounting of the transfer of angular momentum between orbits, global patterns, and distinct components in order to better explain the underlying physics which govern the secular evolution of barred disk galaxies.Using these methodologies, we are able to identify the successes and failures of linear theory and traditional n-body simulations en route to a detailed understanding of the control bars exhibit over secular evolution in galaxies. We present explanations for observed physical and velocity structures in observations of barred galaxies alongside predictions for how structures will vary with dynamical properties from galaxy to galaxy as well as over the lifetime of a galaxy, finding that the transfer of angular momentum through previously unidentified channels can more fully explain the observed dynamics.

Reliability model of disk arrays RAID-5 with data striping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, P. A.; D'K Novikova Freyre Shavier, G.

2018-03-01

Within the scope of the this scientific paper, the simplified reliability model of disk arrays RAID-5 (redundant arrays of inexpensive disks) and an advanced reliability model offered by the authors taking into the consideration nonzero time of the faulty disk replacement and different failure rates of disks in normal state of the disk array and in degraded and rebuild states are discussed. The formula obtained by the authors for calculation of the mean time to data loss (MTTDL) of the RAID-5 disk arrays on basis of the advanced model is also presented. Finally, the technique of estimation of the initial reliability parameters, which are used in the reliability model, and the calculation examples of the mean time to data loss of the RAID-5 disk arrays for the different number of disks are also given.

Antimicrobial Activity of Thin Solid Films of Silver Doped Hydroxyapatite Prepared by Sol-Gel Method

PubMed Central

Iconaru, Simona Liliana; Chapon, Patrick; Le Coustumer, Philippe; Predoi, Daniela

2014-01-01

In this work, the preparation and characterization of silver doped hydroxyapatite thin films were reported and their antimicrobial activity was characterized. Silver doped hydroxyapatite (Ag:HAp) thin films coatings substrate was prepared on commercially pure Si disks by sol-gel method. The silver doped hydroxyapatite thin films were characterized by various techniques such as Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy Dispersive X-ray attachment (X-EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). These techniques have permitted the structural and chemical characterisation of the silver doped hydroxyapatite thin films. The antimicrobial effect of the Ag:HAp thin films on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria was then investigated. This is the first study on the antimicrobial effect of Ag:HAp thin films obtained by sol-gel method. The results of this study have shown that the Ag:HAp thin films with x Ag = 0.5 are effective against E. coli and S. aureus after 24 h. PMID:24523630

Antimicrobial activity of thin solid films of silver doped hydroxyapatite prepared by sol-gel method.

PubMed

Iconaru, Simona Liliana; Chapon, Patrick; Le Coustumer, Philippe; Predoi, Daniela

2014-01-01

In this work, the preparation and characterization of silver doped hydroxyapatite thin films were reported and their antimicrobial activity was characterized. Silver doped hydroxyapatite (Ag:HAp) thin films coatings substrate was prepared on commercially pure Si disks by sol-gel method. The silver doped hydroxyapatite thin films were characterized by various techniques such as Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy Dispersive X-ray attachment (X-EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). These techniques have permitted the structural and chemical characterisation of the silver doped hydroxyapatite thin films. The antimicrobial effect of the Ag:HAp thin films on Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria was then investigated. This is the first study on the antimicrobial effect of Ag:HAp thin films obtained by sol-gel method. The results of this study have shown that the Ag:HAp thin films with x(Ag) = 0.5 are effective against E. coli and S. aureus after 24 h.

Characterization of lap joints laser beam welding of thin AA 2024 sheets with Yb:YAG disk-laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caiazzo, Fabrizia; Alfieri, Vittorio; Cardaropoli, Francesco; Sergi, Vincenzo

2012-06-01

Lap joints obtained by overlapping two plates are widely diffused in aerospace industry. Nevertheless, because of natural aging, adhesively bonded and riveted aircraft lap joints may be affected by cracks from rivets, voids or corrosion. Friction stir welding has been proposed as a valid alternative, although large heat affected zones are produced both in the top and the bottom plate due to the pin diameter. Interest has therefore been shown in studying laser lap welding as the laser beam has been proved to be competitive since it allows to concentrate the thermal input and increases productivity and quality. Some challenges arise as a consequence of aluminum low absorptance and high thermal conductivity; furthermore, issues are due to metallurgical challenges such as both micro and macro porosity formation and softening in the fused zone. Welding of AA 2024 thin sheets in a lap joint configuration is discussed in this paper: tests are carried out using a recently developed Trumpf TruDisk 2002 Yb:YAG disk-laser with high beam quality which allows to produce beads with low plates distortion and better penetration. The influence of the processing parameters is discussed considering the fused zone extent and the bead shape. The porosity content as well as the morphological features of the beads have been examined.

Axisymmetric bluff-body flow: A vortex solver for thin shells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strickland, J. H.

1992-05-01

A method which is capable of solving the axisymmetric flow field over bluff bodies consisting of thin shells such as disks, partial spheres, rings, and other such shapes is presented in this report. The body may be made up of several shells whose edges are separated by gaps. The body may be moved axially according to arbitrary velocity time histories. In addition, the surfaces may possess axial and radial degrees of flexibility such that points on the surfaces may be allowed to move relative to each other according to some specified function of time. The surfaces may be either porous or impervious. The present solution technique is based on the axisymmetric vorticity transport equation. Physically, this technique simulates the generation of vorticity at body surfaces in the form of discrete ring vortices which are subsequently diffused and convected into the boundary layers and wake of the body. Relatively large numbers of vortices (1000 or more) are required to obtain good simulations. Since the direct calculation of perturbations from large numbers of ring vortices is computationally intensive, a fast multipole method was used to greatly reduce computer processing time. Several example calculations are presented for disks, disks with holes, hemispheres, and vented hemispheres. These results are compared with steady and unsteady experimental data.

Modeling transport kinetics in clinoptilolite-phosphate rock systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, E. R.; Ming, D. W.; Hossner, L. R.; Henninger, D. L.

1995-01-01

Nutrient release in clinoptilolite-phosphate rock (Cp-PR) systems occurs through dissolution and cation-exchange reactions. Investigating the kinetics of these reactions expands our understanding of nutrient release processes. Research was conducted to model transport kinetics of nutrient release in Cp-PR systems. The objectives were to identify empirical models that best describe NH4, K, and P release and define diffusion-controlling processes. Materials included a Texas clinoptilolite (Cp) and North Carolina phosphate rock (PR). A continuous-flow thin-disk technique was used. Models evaluated included zero order, first order, second order, parabolic diffusion, simplified Elovich, Elovich, and power function. The power-function, Elovich, and parabolic-diffusion models adequately described NH4, K, and P release. The power-function model was preferred because of its simplicity. Models indicated nutrient release was diffusion controlled. Primary transport processes controlling nutrient release for the time span observed were probably the result of a combination of several interacting transport mechanisms.

A Global Three-Dimensional Radiation Hydrodynamic Simulation of a Self-Gravitating Accretion Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillipson, Rebecca; Vogeley, Michael S.; McMillan, Stephen; Boyd, Patricia

2018-01-01

We present three-dimensional, radiation hydrodynamic simulations of initially thin accretion disks with self-gravity using the grid-based code PLUTO. We produce simulated light curves and spectral energy distributions and compare to observational data of X-ray binary (XRB) and active galactic nuclei (AGN) variability. These simulations are of interest for modeling the role of radiation in accretion physics across decades of mass and frequency. In particular, the characteristics of the time variability in various bandwidths can probe the timescales over which different physical processes dominate the accretion flow. For example, in the case of some XRBs, superorbital periods much longer than the companion orbital period have been observed. Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) calculations have shown that irradiation-driven warping could be the mechanism underlying these long periods. In the case of AGN, irradiation-driven warping is also predicted to occur in addition to strong outflows originating from thermal and radiation pressure driving forces, which are important processes in understanding feedback and star formation in active galaxies. We compare our simulations to various toy models via traditional time series analysis of our synthetic and observed light curves.

Testing the Kerr Black Hole Hypothesis Using X-Ray Reflection Spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bambi, Cosimo; Nampalliwar, Sourabh; Cárdenas-Avendaño, Alejandro

We present the first X-ray reflection model for testing the assumption that the metric of astrophysical black holes is described by the Kerr solution. We employ the formalism of the transfer function proposed by Cunningham. The calculations of the reflection spectrum of a thin accretion disk are split into two parts: the calculation of the transfer function and the calculation of the local spectrum at any emission point in the disk. The transfer function only depends on the background metric and takes into account all the relativistic effects (gravitational redshift, Doppler boosting, and light bending). Our code computes the transfermore » function for a spacetime described by the Johannsen metric and can easily be extended to any stationary, axisymmetric, and asymptotically flat spacetime. Transfer functions and single line shapes in the Kerr metric are compared to those calculated from existing codes to check that we reach the necessary accuracy. We also simulate some observations with NuSTAR and LAD/eXTP and fit the data with our new model to show the potential capabilities of current and future observations to constrain possible deviations from the Kerr metric.« less

Theoretical Analysis of Drug Dissolution: I. Solubility and Intrinsic Dissolution Rate.

PubMed

Shekunov, Boris; Montgomery, Eda Ross

2016-09-01

The first-principles approach presented in this work combines surface kinetics and convective diffusion modeling applied to compounds with pH-dependent solubility and in different dissolution media. This analysis is based on experimental data available for approximately 100 compounds of pharmaceutical interest. Overall, there is a linear relationship between the drug solubility and intrinsic dissolution rate expressed through the total kinetic coefficient of dissolution and dimensionless numbers defining the mass transfer regime. The contribution of surface kinetics appears to be significant constituting on average ∼20% resistance to the dissolution flux in the compendial rotating disk apparatus at 100 rpm. The surface kinetics contribution becomes more dominant under conditions of fast laminar or turbulent flows or in cases when the surface kinetic coefficient may decrease as a function of solution composition or pH. Limitations of the well-known convective diffusion equation for rotating disk by Levich are examined using direct computational modeling with simultaneous dissociation and acid-base reactions in which intrinsic dissolution rate is strongly dependent on pH profile and solution ionic strength. It is shown that concept of diffusion boundary layer does not strictly apply for reacting/interacting species and that thin-film diffusion models cannot be used quantitatively in general case. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The fine structure of the Saturnian ring system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Houpis, H. L. F.; Mendis, D. A.

1983-01-01

A dust disk within a planetary magnetosphere constitutes a novel type of dust-ring current. Such an azimuthal current carrying dust disk is subject to the dusty plasma analog of the well known finite-resistivity 'tearing' mode instability in regular plasma current sheets, at long wavelengths. It is proposed that the presently observed fine ringlet of the Saturnian ring system is a relic of this process operating at cosmogonic times and breaking up the initial proto-ring (which may be regarded as an admixture of fine dust and plasma) into an ensemble of thin ringlets. It is shown that this instability develops at a rate that is many orders of magnitude faster than any other known instability, when the disk thickness reaches a value that is comparable to its present observed value.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Madau, Piero; Haardt, Francesco; Dotti, Massimo

We consider super-critical accretion with angular momentum onto stellar-mass black holes as a possible mechanism for growing billion-solar-mass black holes from light seeds at early times. We use the radiatively inefficient ''slim disk'' solution—advective, optically thick flows that generalize the standard geometrically thin disk model—to show how mildly super-Eddington intermittent accretion may significantly ease the problem of assembling the first massive black holes when the universe was less than 0.8 Gyr old. Because of the low radiative efficiencies of slim disks around non-rotating as well as rapidly rotating black holes, the mass e-folding timescale in this regime is nearly independent ofmore » the spin parameter. The conditions that may lead to super-critical growth in the early universe are briefly discussed.« less

An experimental and theoretical study of new phosphors for full color field emission displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Fu-Li

An in depth study is reported of the cathodoluminescent (CL) properties of three new highly efficiency blue phosphors for field emission display (FED) applications doped with fast activators. The superior performance of a new Eu-doped green SrGa2S4 will also be reported. This work addresses four main topics: (1) a detailed study of the dependence of the luminescent intensity on activator concentration, as a function of electron beam voltage and current density; (2) the optical properties of thew phosphors and the development of a CL efficiency characterization technique using a critical screen weight method, which can obtain maximum light output and improve measurement accuracy; (3) understanding the low voltage CL mechanism associated with nanocrystal size by developing a thin film and disk model based on transportation theory and experimental results; (4) Development of a comprehensive evaluation method of red, green, and blue (RGB) phosphors for full color displays by calculation of luminance ratios, required luminance, and measurements of spectra, efficiency and saturation behavior. For FEDs which combine the best properties of CRT and flat panel displays, the development of efficient phosphors at low voltages and high current densities is shown to be critical to meet the luminance and power requirement demands for portable displays. Of particular importance is the need for a good blue phosphor, and to understand the dependence of the CL efficiency on nanocrystal size, penetration depth, diffusion length and surface recombination rate. This has been obtained from the thin film and disk models and fits to experiment. Comparisons between full color phosphor sets show that the performance of a display can vary by over a factor of three depending on the choice of the RGB set. Other factors that are important for optimizing the performance of FED phosphors are reviewed.

An Explanation of the Very Low Radio Flux of Young Planet-mass Companions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Ya-Lin; Close, Laird M.; Eisner, Josh A.; Sheehan, Patrick D.

2017-12-01

We report Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.3 mm continuum upper limits for five planetary-mass companions DH Tau B, CT Cha B, GSC 6214-210 B, 1RXS 1609 B, and GQ Lup B. Our survey, together with other ALMA studies, have yielded null results for disks around young planet-mass companions and placed stringent dust mass upper limits, typically less than 0.1 M ⊕, when assuming dust continuum is optically thin. Such low-mass gas/dust content can lead to a disk lifetime estimate (from accretion rates) much shorter than the age of the system. To alleviate this timescale discrepancy, we suggest that disks around wide companions might be very compact and optically thick in order to sustain a few Myr of accretion, yet have very weak (sub)millimeter flux so as to still be elusive to ALMA. Our order-of-magnitude estimate shows that compact optically thick disks might be smaller than 1000 R Jup and only emit ∼μJy of flux in the (sub)millimeter, but their average temperature can be higher than that of circumstellar disks. The high disk temperature could impede satellite formation, but it also suggests that mid- to far-infrared might be more favorable than radio wavelengths to characterize disk properties. Finally, the compact disk size might imply that dynamical encounters between the companion and the star, or any other scatterers in the system, play a role in the formation of planetary-mass companions.

The use of computerized image guidance in lumbar disk arthroplasty.

PubMed

Smith, Harvey E; Vaccaro, Alexander R; Yuan, Philip S; Papadopoulos, Stephen; Sasso, Rick

2006-02-01

Surgical navigation systems have been increasingly studied and applied in the application of spinal instrumentation. Successful disk arthroplasty requires accurate midline and rotational positioning for optimal function and longevity. A surgical simulation study in human cadaver specimens was done to evaluate and compare the accuracy of standard fluoroscopy, computer-assisted fluoroscopic image guidance, and Iso-C3D image guidance in the placement of lumbar intervertebral disk replacements. Lumbar intervertebral disk prostheses were placed using three different image guidance techniques in three human cadaver spine specimens at multiple levels. Postinstrumentation accuracy was assessed with thin-cut computed tomography scans. Intervertebral disk replacements placed using the StealthStation with Iso-C3D were more accurately centered than those placed using the StealthStation with FluoroNav and standard fluoroscopy. Intervertebral disk replacements placed with Iso-C3D and FluoroNav had improved rotational divergence compared with standard fluoroscopy. Iso-C3D and FluoroNav had a smaller interprocedure variance than standard fluoroscopy. These results did not approach statistical significance. Relative to both virtual and standard fluoroscopy, use of the StealthStation with Iso-C3D resulted in improved accuracy in centering the lumbar disk prosthesis in the coronal midline. The StealthStation with FluoroNav appears to be at least equivalent to standard fluoroscopy and may offer improved accuracy with rotational alignment while minimizing radiation exposure to the surgeon. Surgical guidance systems may offer improved accuracy and less interprocedure variation in the placement of intervertebral disk replacements than standard fluoroscopy. Further study regarding surgical navigation systems for intervertebral disk replacement is warranted.

Magnetically Induced Disk Winds and Transport in the HL Tau Disk

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hasegawa, Yasuhiro; Flock, Mario; Turner, Neal J.

2017-08-10

The mechanism of angular momentum transport in protoplanetary disks is fundamental to understanding the distributions of gas and dust in the disks. The unprecedented ALMA observations taken toward HL Tau at high spatial resolution and subsequent radiative transfer modeling reveal that a high degree of dust settling is currently achieved in the outer part of the HL Tau disk. Previous observations, however, suggest a high disk accretion rate onto the central star. This configuration is not necessarily intuitive in the framework of the conventional viscous disk model, since efficient accretion generally requires a high level of turbulence, which can suppressmore » dust settling considerably. We develop a simplified, semi-analytical disk model to examine under what condition these two properties can be realized in a single model. Recent, non-ideal MHD simulations are utilized to realistically model the angular momentum transport both radially via MHD turbulence and vertically via magnetically induced disk winds. We find that the HL Tau disk configuration can be reproduced well when disk winds are properly taken into account. While the resulting disk properties are likely consistent with other observational results, such an ideal situation can be established only if the plasma β at the disk midplane is β {sub 0} ≃ 2 × 10{sup 4} under the assumption of steady accretion. Equivalently, the vertical magnetic flux at 100 au is about 0.2 mG. More detailed modeling is needed to fully identify the origin of the disk accretion and quantitatively examine plausible mechanisms behind the observed gap structures in the HL Tau disk.« less

Magnetically Induced Disk Winds and Transport in the HL Tau Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, Yasuhiro; Okuzumi, Satoshi; Flock, Mario; Turner, Neal J.

2017-08-01

The mechanism of angular momentum transport in protoplanetary disks is fundamental to understanding the distributions of gas and dust in the disks. The unprecedented ALMA observations taken toward HL Tau at high spatial resolution and subsequent radiative transfer modeling reveal that a high degree of dust settling is currently achieved in the outer part of the HL Tau disk. Previous observations, however, suggest a high disk accretion rate onto the central star. This configuration is not necessarily intuitive in the framework of the conventional viscous disk model, since efficient accretion generally requires a high level of turbulence, which can suppress dust settling considerably. We develop a simplified, semi-analytical disk model to examine under what condition these two properties can be realized in a single model. Recent, non-ideal MHD simulations are utilized to realistically model the angular momentum transport both radially via MHD turbulence and vertically via magnetically induced disk winds. We find that the HL Tau disk configuration can be reproduced well when disk winds are properly taken into account. While the resulting disk properties are likely consistent with other observational results, such an ideal situation can be established only if the plasma β at the disk midplane is β 0 ≃ 2 × 104 under the assumption of steady accretion. Equivalently, the vertical magnetic flux at 100 au is about 0.2 mG. More detailed modeling is needed to fully identify the origin of the disk accretion and quantitatively examine plausible mechanisms behind the observed gap structures in the HL Tau disk.

Analytical Solutions for Radiative Transfer: Implications for Giant Planet Formation by Disk Instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boss, Alan P.

2009-03-01

The disk instability mechanism for giant planet formation is based on the formation of clumps in a marginally gravitationally unstable protoplanetary disk, which must lose thermal energy through a combination of convection and radiative cooling if they are to survive and contract to become giant protoplanets. While there is good observational support for forming at least some giant planets by disk instability, the mechanism has become theoretically contentious, with different three-dimensional radiative hydrodynamics codes often yielding different results. Rigorous code testing is required to make further progress. Here we present two new analytical solutions for radiative transfer in spherical coordinates, suitable for testing the code employed in all of the Boss disk instability calculations. The testing shows that the Boss code radiative transfer routines do an excellent job of relaxing to and maintaining the analytical results for the radial temperature and radiative flux profiles for a spherical cloud with high or moderate optical depths, including the transition from optically thick to optically thin regions. These radial test results are independent of whether the Eddington approximation, diffusion approximation, or flux-limited diffusion approximation routines are employed. The Boss code does an equally excellent job of relaxing to and maintaining the analytical results for the vertical (θ) temperature and radiative flux profiles for a disk with a height proportional to the radial distance. These tests strongly support the disk instability mechanism for forming giant planets.

Regulation of black-hole accretion by a disk wind during a violent outburst of V404 Cygni

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muñoz-Darias, T.; Casares, J.; Mata Sánchez, D.; Fender, R. P.; Armas Padilla, M.; Linares, M.; Ponti, G.; Charles, P. A.; Mooley, K. P.; Rodriguez, J.

2016-06-01

Accretion of matter onto black holes is universally associated with strong radiative feedback and powerful outflows. In particular, black-hole transients have outflows whose properties are strongly coupled to those of the accretion flow. This includes X-ray winds of ionized material, expelled from the accretion disk encircling the black hole, and collimated radio jets. Very recently, a distinct optical variability pattern has been reported in the transient stellar-mass black hole V404 Cygni, and interpreted as disrupted mass flow into the inner regions of its large accretion disk. Here we report observations of a sustained outer accretion disk wind in V404 Cyg, which is unlike any seen hitherto. We find that the outflowing wind is neutral, has a large covering factor, expands at one per cent of the speed of light and triggers a nebular phase once accretion drops sharply and the ejecta become optically thin. The large expelled mass (>10-8 solar masses) indicates that the outburst was prematurely ended when a sizeable fraction of the outer disk was depleted by the wind, detaching the inner regions from the rest of the disk. The luminous, but brief, accretion phases shown by transients with large accretion disks imply that this outflow is probably a fundamental ingredient in regulating mass accretion onto black holes.

Regulation of black-hole accretion by a disk wind during a violent outburst of V404 Cygni.

PubMed

Muñoz-Darias, T; Casares, J; Mata Sánchez, D; Fender, R P; Armas Padilla, M; Linares, M; Ponti, G; Charles, P A; Mooley, K P; Rodriguez, J

2016-06-02

Accretion of matter onto black holes is universally associated with strong radiative feedback and powerful outflows. In particular, black-hole transients have outflows whose properties are strongly coupled to those of the accretion flow. This includes X-ray winds of ionized material, expelled from the accretion disk encircling the black hole, and collimated radio jets. Very recently, a distinct optical variability pattern has been reported in the transient stellar-mass black hole V404 Cygni, and interpreted as disrupted mass flow into the inner regions of its large accretion disk. Here we report observations of a sustained outer accretion disk wind in V404 Cyg, which is unlike any seen hitherto. We find that the outflowing wind is neutral, has a large covering factor, expands at one per cent of the speed of light and triggers a nebular phase once accretion drops sharply and the ejecta become optically thin. The large expelled mass (>10(-8) solar masses) indicates that the outburst was prematurely ended when a sizeable fraction of the outer disk was depleted by the wind, detaching the inner regions from the rest of the disk. The luminous, but brief, accretion phases shown by transients with large accretion disks imply that this outflow is probably a fundamental ingredient in regulating mass accretion onto black holes.

Testing SgrA{sup *} with the spectrum of its accretion structure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Nan; Li, Zilong; Bambi, Cosimo

2015-09-01

SgrA{sup *} is the supermassive black hole candidate at the center of the Galaxy and an ideal laboratory to test general relativity. Following previous work by other authors, we use the Polish doughnut model to describe an optically thin and constant angular momentum ion torus in hydrodynamical equilibrium and model the accretion structure around SgrA{sup *}. The radiation mechanisms are bremsstrahlung, synchrotron emission, and inverse Compton scattering. We compute the spectrum as seen by a distant observer in Kerr and non-Kerr spacetimes and we study how an accurate measurement can constrain possible deviations form the Kerr solution. As in themore » case of emission from a thin accretion disk, we find a substantial degeneracy between the determination of the spin and of possible deviations from the Kerr geometry, even when the parameters of the ion torus are fixed. This means that this technique cannot independently test the nature of SgrA{sup *} even in the presence of good data and with the systematics under control. However, it might do it in combination with other measurements (black hole shadow, radio pulsar, etc.)« less

Tests and consequences of disk plus halo models of gamma-ray burst sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, I. A.

1995-01-01

The gamma-ray burst observations made by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) and by previous experiments are still consistent with a combined Galactic disk (or Galactic spiral arm) plus extended Galactic halo model. Testable predictions and consequences of the disk plus halo model are discussed here; tests performed on the expanded BATSE database in the future will constrain the allowed model parameters and may eventually rule out the disk plus halo model. Using examples, it is shown that if the halo has an appropriate edge, BATSE will never detect an anisotropic signal from the halo of the Andromeda galaxy. A prediction of the disk plus halo model is that the fraction of the bursts observed to be in the 'disk' population rises as the detector sensitivity improves. A careful reexamination of the numbers of bursts in the two populations for the pre-BATSE databases could rule out this class of models. Similarly, it is predicted that different satellites will observe different relative numbers of bursts in the two classes for any model in which there are two different spatial distribiutions of the sources, or for models in which there is one spatial distribution of the sources that is sampled to different depths for the two classes. An important consequence of the disk plus halo model is that for the birthrate of the halo sources to be small compared to the birthrate of the disk sources, it is necessary for the halo sources to release many orders of magnitude more energy over their bursting lifetime than the disk sources. The halo bursts must also be much more luminous than the disk bursts; if this disk-halo model is correct, it is necessary to explain why the disk sources do not produce halo-type bursts.

Means and method for nonuniform poling of piezoelectric transducers

DOEpatents

Hsu, David K.; Margetan, Frank J.; Hasselbusch, Michael D.; Wormley, Samuel J.; Hughes, Michael S.; Thompson, Donald O.

1990-10-09

An apparatus and method for nonuniform poling of piezoelectric transducers includes machining one or more indentation into an end of a piezoelectric rod and cutting the rod to present a thickened disk shape. Highly electrically conductive material is deposited on at least the indentations in the one end and on at least portions of the opposite face of the member. One or more electrodes are configured to matingly fit within the indentations on the one face of the disk, with a like number of electrodes being positionable on the opposite face of the material. Electrical power is then applied to the electrodes in desired amounts, polarity, and duration. The indentations vary the electrical field produced within the piezoelectric material to produce nonuniform poling in the material. The thick disk is then cut to remove the indentations and to present a thin, flat two sided disk for installation in a conventional piezoelectric transducer probe. The indentations are selected to produce poling in accordance with desired transducer response profiles such as Gaussian or Bessel functions.

Disk flexibility effects on the rotordynamics of the SSME high pressure turbopumps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flowers, George T.

1990-01-01

Rotordynamical analyses are typically performed using rigid disk models. Studies of rotor models in which the effects of disk flexibility were included indicate that it may be an important effect for many systems. This issue is addressed with respect to the Space Shuttle Main Engine high pressure turbopumps. Finite element analyses were performed for a simplified free-free flexible disk rotor models and the modes and frequencies compared to those of a rigid disk model. Equations were developed to account for disk flexibility in rotordynamical analysis. Simulation studies were conducted to assess the influence of disk flexibility on the HPOTP. Some recommendations are given as to the importance of disk flexibility and for how this project should proceed.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Katkov, Ivan Yu.; Sil'chenko, Olga K.; Moiseev, Alexei V., E-mail: katkov.ivan@gmail.com, E-mail: moisav@gmail.com, E-mail: olga@sai.msu.su

We used deep, long-slit spectra and integral-field spectral data to study the stars, ionized gas kinematics, and stellar population properties in the lenticular barred galaxy NGC 7743. We show that ionized gas at distances larger than 1.5 kpc from the nucleus settles in the disk, which is significantly inclined toward the stellar disk of the galaxy. Making different assumptions about the geometry of the disks and including different sets of emission lines in the fitting, under the assumption of thin, flat-disk circular rotation, we obtain the full possible range of angles between the disks to be 34{sup 0} {+-} 9{supmore » 0} or 77{sup 0} {+-} 9{sup 0}. The most probable origin of the inclined disk is the external gas accretion from a satellite orbiting the host galaxy, with a corresponding angular momentum direction. The published data on the H I distribution around NGC 7743 suggest that the galaxy has a gas-rich environment. The emission-line ratio diagrams imply the domination of shock waves in the ionization state of the gaseous disk, whereas the contribution of photoionization from recent star formation seems to be negligible. In some parts of the disk, a difference between the velocities of the gas emitting from the forbidden lines and Balmer lines is detected. This may be caused by the mainly shock-excited inclined disk, whereas some fraction of the Balmer-line emission is produced by a small amount of gas excited by young stars in the main stellar disk of NGC 7743. In the circumnuclear region (R < 200 pc), some evidence of the active galactic nucleus jet's interaction with an ambient interstellar medium was found.« less

On the Preparation and Testing of Fuel Cell Catalysts Using the Thin Film Rotating Disk Electrode Method.

PubMed

Inaba, Masanori; Quinson, Jonathan; Bucher, Jan Rudolf; Arenz, Matthias

2018-03-16

We present a step-by-step tutorial to prepare proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) catalysts, consisting of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) supported on a high surface area carbon, and to test their performance in thin film rotating disk electrode (TF-RDE) measurements. The TF-RDE methodology is widely used for catalyst screening; nevertheless, the measured performance sometimes considerably differs among research groups. These uncertainties impede the advancement of new catalyst materials and, consequently, several authors discussed possible best practice methods and the importance of benchmarking. The visual tutorial highlights possible pitfalls in the TF-RDE testing of Pt/C catalysts. A synthesis and testing protocol to assess standard Pt/C catalysts is introduced that can be used together with polycrystalline Pt disks as benchmark catalysts. In particular, this study highlights how the properties of the catalyst film on the glassy carbon (GC) electrode influence the measured performance in TF-RDE testing. To obtain thin, homogeneous catalyst films, not only the catalyst preparation, but also the ink deposition and drying procedures are essential. It is demonstrated that an adjustment of the ink's pH might be necessary, and how simple control measurements can be used to check film quality. Once reproducible TF-RDE measurements are obtained, determining the Pt loading on the catalyst support (expressed as Pt wt%) and the electrochemical surface area is necessary to normalize the determined reaction rates to either surface area or Pt mass. For the surface area determination, so-called CO stripping, or the determination of the hydrogen underpotential deposition (Hupd) charge, are standard. For the determination of the Pt loading, a straightforward and cheap procedure using digestion in aqua regia with subsequent conversion of Pt(IV) to Pt(II) and UV-vis measurements is introduced.

On the Preparation and Testing of Fuel Cell Catalysts Using the Thin Film Rotating Disk Electrode Method

PubMed Central

Inaba, Masanori; Quinson, Jonathan; Bucher, Jan Rudolf; Arenz, Matthias

2018-01-01

We present a step-by-step tutorial to prepare proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) catalysts, consisting of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) supported on a high surface area carbon, and to test their performance in thin film rotating disk electrode (TF-RDE) measurements. The TF-RDE methodology is widely used for catalyst screening; nevertheless, the measured performance sometimes considerably differs among research groups. These uncertainties impede the advancement of new catalyst materials and, consequently, several authors discussed possible best practice methods and the importance of benchmarking. The visual tutorial highlights possible pitfalls in the TF-RDE testing of Pt/C catalysts. A synthesis and testing protocol to assess standard Pt/C catalysts is introduced that can be used together with polycrystalline Pt disks as benchmark catalysts. In particular, this study highlights how the properties of the catalyst film on the glassy carbon (GC) electrode influence the measured performance in TF-RDE testing. To obtain thin, homogeneous catalyst films, not only the catalyst preparation, but also the ink deposition and drying procedures are essential. It is demonstrated that an adjustment of the ink's pH might be necessary, and how simple control measurements can be used to check film quality. Once reproducible TF-RDE measurements are obtained, determining the Pt loading on the catalyst support (expressed as Pt wt%) and the electrochemical surface area is necessary to normalize the determined reaction rates to either surface area or Pt mass. For the surface area determination, so-called CO stripping, or the determination of the hydrogen underpotential deposition (Hupd) charge, are standard. For the determination of the Pt loading, a straightforward and cheap procedure using digestion in aqua regia with subsequent conversion of Pt(IV) to Pt(II) and UV-vis measurements is introduced. PMID:29608166

Precision Scaling Relations for Disk Galaxies in the Local Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lapi, A.; Salucci, P.; Danese, L.

2018-05-01

We build templates of rotation curves as a function of the I-band luminosity via the mass modeling (by the sum of a thin exponential disk and a cored halo profile) of suitably normalized, stacked data from wide samples of local spiral galaxies. We then exploit such templates to determine fundamental stellar and halo properties for a sample of about 550 local disk-dominated galaxies with high-quality measurements of the optical radius R opt and of the corresponding rotation velocity V opt. Specifically, we determine the stellar M ⋆ and halo M H masses, the halo size R H and velocity scale V H, and the specific angular momenta of the stellar j ⋆ and dark matter j H components. We derive global scaling relationships involving such stellar and halo properties both for the individual galaxies in our sample and for their mean within bins; the latter are found to be in pleasing agreement with previous determinations by independent methods (e.g., abundance matching techniques, weak-lensing observations, and individual rotation curve modeling). Remarkably, the size of our sample and the robustness of our statistical approach allow us to attain an unprecedented level of precision over an extended range of mass and velocity scales, with 1σ dispersion around the mean relationships of less than 0.1 dex. We thus set new standard local relationships that must be reproduced by detailed physical models, which offer a basis for improving the subgrid recipes in numerical simulations, that provide a benchmark to gauge independent observations and check for systematics, and that constitute a basic step toward the future exploitation of the spiral galaxy population as a cosmological probe.

NuSTAR and Swift Observations of the Dwarf Nova Z Camelpardalis in a Standstill

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukai, Koji; Sokoloski, Jennifer; Nelson, Thomas; Luna, Gerardo Juan Manuel; Ringwald, Frederick

2018-01-01

Dwarf nova outbursts are dramatic increases in the optical/UV emission from the accretion disks surrounding non-magnetic, or weakly magnetic, white dwarfs, and they are believed to be caused by disk instabilities. During the optical outburst, the optically thin X-rays originating from the boundary layer between the disk and the white dwarf are known to become fainter and softer. However, during an outburst, neither the disk nor the boundary layer has the time to settle into a steady state, exhibiting clear hysteresis effects instead. The Z Cam-type dwarf novae exhibit a rare, third state called standstill, lasting several months to several years, at an optical brightness roughly one magnitude below outburst peak. A standstill is therefore an ideal opportunity to study a high-state disk while minimizing the hysteresis effects. Here we report our NuSTAR and Swift observations of the prototype, Z Cam, in late September, 2017, roughly 6 months into its most recent standstill episode. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first pointed X-ray observation of a Z Cam-type object in a standstill, and our preliminary analysis suggests Z Cam in standstill has X-ray properties broadly similar to those seen during past outbursts. We will describe these results and discuss implications for the disk physics.

Probing the Broad-Line Region and the Accretion Disk in the Lensed Quasars HE 0435-1223, WFI 2033-4723, and HE 2149-2745 Using Gravitational Microlensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motta, V.; Mediavilla, E.; Rojas, K.; Falco, E. E.; Jiménez-Vicente, J.; Muñoz, J. A.

2017-02-01

We use single-epoch spectroscopy of three gravitationally lensed quasars, HE 0435-1223, WFI 2033-4723, and HE 2149-2745, to study their inner structure (broad-line region [BLR] and continuum source). We detect microlensing-induced magnification in the wings of the broad emission lines of two of the systems (HE 0435-1223 and WFI 2033-4723). In the case of WFI 2033-4723, microlensing affects two “bumps” in the spectra that are almost symmetrically arranged on the blue (coincident with an Al III emission line) and red wings of C III]. These match the typical double-peaked profile that follows from disk kinematics. The presence of microlensing in the wings of the emission lines indicates the existence of two different regions in the BLR: a relatively small one with kinematics possibly related to an accretion disk, and another one that is substantially more extended and insensitive to microlensing. There is good agreement between the estimated size of the region affected by microlensing in the emission lines, {r}s={10}-7+15\\sqrt{M/{M}⊙ } lt-day (red wing of C IV in HE 0435-1223) and {r}s={11}-7+28\\sqrt{M/{M}⊙ } lt-day (C III] bumps in WFI 2033-4723), and the sizes inferred from the continuum emission, {r}s={13}-4+5\\sqrt{M/{M}⊙ } lt-day (HE 0435-1223) and {r}s={10}-2+3\\sqrt{M/{M}⊙ } lt-day (WFI 2033-4723). For HE 2149-2745 we measure an accretion disk size {r}s={8}-5+11\\sqrt{M/{M}⊙ } lt-day. The estimates of p, the exponent of the size versus wavelength ({r}s\\propto {λ }p), are 1.2 ± 0.6, 0.8 ± 0.2, and 0.4 ± 0.3 for HE 0435-1223, WFI 2033-4723, and HE 2149-2745, respectively. In conclusion, the continuum microlensing amplitude in the three quasars and chromaticity in WFI 2033-4723 and HE 2149-2745 are below expectations for the thin-disk model. The disks are larger and their temperature gradients are flatter than predicted by this model.

An analytic performance model of disk arrays and its application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Edward K.; Katz, Randy H.

1991-01-01

As disk arrays become widely used, tools for understanding and analyzing their performance become increasingly important. In particular, performance models can be invaluable in both configuring and designing disk arrays. Accurate analytic performance models are desirable over other types of models because they can be quickly evaluated, are applicable under a wide range of system and workload parameters, and can be manipulated by a range of mathematical techniques. Unfortunately, analytical performance models of disk arrays are difficult to formulate due to the presence of queuing and fork-join synchronization; a disk array request is broken up into independent disk requests which must all complete to satisfy the original request. We develop, validate, and apply an analytic performance model for disk arrays. We derive simple equations for approximating their utilization, response time, and throughput. We then validate the analytic model via simulation and investigate the accuracy of each approximation used in deriving the analytical model. Finally, we apply the analytical model to derive an equation for the optimal unit of data striping in disk arrays.

HiLASE: development of fully diode pumped disk lasers with high average power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Divoky, M.; Smrz, M.; Chyla, M.; Sikocinski, P.; Severova, P.; Novák, O.; Huynh, J.; Nagisetty, S. S.; Miura, T.; Liberatore, C.; Pilař, J.; Slezak, O.; Sawicka, M.; Jambunathan, V.; Gemini, L.; Vanda, J.; Svabek, R.; Endo, A.; Lucianetti, A.; Rostohar, D.; Mason, P. D.; Phillips, P. J.; Ertel, K.; Banerjee, S.; Hernandez-Gomez, C.; Collier, J. L.; Mocek, T.

2015-02-01

An overview of Czech national R&D project HiLASE (High average power pulsed LASEr) is presented. The HiLASE project aims at development of pulsed DPSSL for hi-tech industrial applications. HiLASE will be a user oriented facility with several laser systems with output parameters ranging from a few picosecond pulses with energy of 5 mJ to 0.5 J and repetition rate of 1-100 kHz (based on thin disk technology) to systems with 100 J output energy in nanosecond pulses with repetition rate of 10 Hz (based on multi-slab technology).

An Interferometric Study of the Post-AGB Binary 89 Herculis. 1: Spatially Resolving the Continuum Circumstellar Environment at Optical and Near-IR Wavelengths with the VLTI, NPOI, IOTA, PTI, and the CHARA Array

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

evolution of binaries as well as the structure of circumstellar disks. Aims. A multiwavelength high angular resolution study of the prototypical object...optical to mid-IR wave- lengths. For YSOs this has led to the discovery of an empiri- cal size-luminosity relation (Millan-Gabet et al. 2001; Monnier...Millan-Gabet 2002), which in turn has led to the current paradigm (Dullemond & Monnier 2010) of a passive dusty disk with an optically thin cavity and the

A Spectroscopic Survey of Field Red Horizontal-branch Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afşar, Melike; Bozkurt, Zeynep; Böcek Topcu, Gamze; Casetti-Dinescu, Dana I.; Sneden, Christopher; Şehitog̅lu, Gizem

2018-06-01

A metallicity, chemical composition, and kinematic survey has been conducted for a sample of 340 candidate field red horizontal-branch (RHB) stars. Spectra with high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio were gathered with the McDonald Observatory 2.7 m Tull and the Hobby–Eberly Telescope echelle spectrographs, and were used to determine effective temperatures, surface gravities, microturbulent velocities, [Fe/H] metallicities, and abundance ratios [X/Fe] for seven α and Fe-group species. The derived temperatures and gravities confirm that at least half of the candidates are true RHB stars, with (average) parameters T eff ∼ 5000 K and log g ∼ 2.5. From the α abundances alone, the thin and thick Galactic populations are apparent in our sample. Space motions for 90% of the program stars were computed from Hipparcos and Gaia parallaxes and proper motions. Correlations between chemical compositions and Galactic kinematics clearly indicate the existence of both thin-disk and thick-disk RHB stars.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balman, Şölen; Godon, Patrick; Sion, Edward M., E-mail: solen@astroa.physics.metu.edu.tr, E-mail: patrick.godon@villanova.edu, E-mail: edward.sion@villanova.edu

We present a total of ∼45 ks (3 × 15 ks) of Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT) observations for three nonmagnetic nova-like (NL) cataclysmic variables (CVs; MV Lyr, BZ Cam, V592 Cas) in order to study characteristics of boundary layers (BLs) in CVs. The nonmagnetic NLs are found mostly in a state of high mass accretion rate (≥1 × 10{sup –9} M {sub ☉} yr{sup –1}), and some show occasional low states. Using the XRT data, we find optically thin multiple-temperature cooling flow type emission spectra with X-ray temperatures (kT {sub max}) of 21-50 keV. These hard X-ray-emitting BLs diverge frommore » simple isobaric cooling flows, indicating X-ray temperatures that are of virial values in the disk. In addition, we detect power-law emission components from MV Lyr and BZ Cam and plausibly from V592 Cas, which may be a result of the Compton scattering of the optically thin emission from the fast wind outflows in these systems and/or Compton upscattering of the soft disk photons. The X-ray luminosities of the (multitemperature) thermal plasma emission in the 0.1-50.0 keV range are (0.9-5.0) × 10{sup 32} erg s{sup –1}. The ratio of the X-ray and disk luminosities (calculated from the UV-optical wavelengths) yields an efficiency (L{sub x} /L {sub disk}) ∼ 0.01-0.001. Given this non-radiative ratio for the X-ray-emitting BLs with no significant optically thick blackbody emission in the soft X-rays (consistent with ROSAT observations), together with the high/virial X-ray temperatures, we suggest that high-state NL systems may have optically thin BLs merged with ADAF-like flows and/or X-ray coronae. In addition, we note that the axisymmetric bipolar and/or rotation-dominated fast-wind outflows detected in these three NLs (particularly BZ Cam and V592 Cas) or some other NL may also be explained in the context of ADAF-like BL regions.« less

MOLECULAR GAS DISK STRUCTURES AROUND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wada, Keiichi; Papadopoulos, Padeli P.; Spaans, Marco

We present new high-resolution numerical simulations of the interstellar medium (ISM) in a central R {<=} 32 parsecs region around a supermassive black hole (1.3 x 10{sup 7} M{sub sun}) at a galactic center. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling of the ISM (Wada and Norman 2002) with the nuclear starburst now includes tracking of the formation of molecular hydrogen (H{sub 2}) out of the neutral hydrogen phase as a function of the evolving ambient ISM conditions with a finer spatial resolution (0.125 pc). In a quasi-equilibrium state, mass fraction of H{sub 2} is about 0.4 (total H{sub 2} mass is {approx_equal}1.5 xmore » 10{sup 6} M{sub sun}) of the total gas mass for the uniform far ultra-violet (FUV) with G {sub 0} = 10 in Habing unit. As shown in the previous model, the gas forms an inhomogeneous disk, whose scale height becomes larger in the outer region. H{sub 2} forms a thin nuclear disk in the inner {approx_equal}5 pc, which is surrounded by molecular clouds swelled up toward h {approx}< 10 pc. The velocity field of the disk is highly turbulent in the torus region, whose velocity dispersion is {approx_equal}20 km s{sup -1} on average. Average supernova (SN) rate of {approx_equal}5 x 10{sup -5} yr{sup -1} is large enough to energize these structures. Gas column densities toward the nucleus larger than 10{sup 22} cm{sup -2} are observed if the viewing angle is smaller than {theta} {sub v} {approx_equal} 50 deg. from the edge-on. However, the column densities are distributed over almost two orders of magnitude around the average for any given viewing angle due to the clumpy nature of the torus. For a stronger FUV (G {sub 0} = 100), the total H{sub 2} mass in an equilibrium is only slightly smaller ({approx_equal}0.35), a testimony to the strong self-shielding nature of H{sub 2}, and the molecular gas is somewhat more concentrated in a midplane. Other properties of the ISM are not very sensitive either to the FUV intensity or the SN rate. Finally, the morphology and kinematics of the circum nuclear molecular gas disks emerging from our models are similar to that revealed by recent near infrared observations using VLTI/Keck.« less

Discovery of Scattering Polarization in the Hydrogen Ly α Line of the Solar Disk Radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kano, R.; Narukage, N.; Ishikawa, R.

There is a thin transition region (TR) in the solar atmosphere where the temperature rises from 10,000 K in the chromosphere to millions of degrees in the corona. Little is known about the mechanisms that dominate this enigmatic region other than the magnetic field plays a key role. The magnetism of the TR can only be detected by polarimetric measurements of a few ultraviolet (UV) spectral lines, the Ly α line of neutral hydrogen at 121.6 nm (the strongest line of the solar UV spectrum) being of particular interest given its sensitivity to the Hanle effect (the magnetic-field-induced modification ofmore » the scattering line polarization). We report the discovery of linear polarization produced by scattering processes in the Ly α line, obtained with the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP) rocket experiment. The Stokes profiles observed by CLASP in quiet regions of the solar disk show that the Q / I and U / I linear polarization signals are of the order of 0.1% in the line core and up to a few percent in the nearby wings, and that both have conspicuous spatial variations with scales of ∼10 arcsec. These observations help constrain theoretical models of the chromosphere–corona TR and extrapolations of the magnetic field from photospheric magnetograms. In fact, the observed spatial variation from disk to limb of polarization at the line core and wings already challenge the predictions from three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical models of the upper solar chromosphere.« less

VLA Imaging of Protoplanetary Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilner, David J.

2004-01-01

We summarize the major accomplishments of our program to use high angular resolution observations at millimeter wavelengths to probe the structure of protoplanetary disks in nearby regions of star formation. The primary facilities used in this work were the Very Large Array (VLA) of the National Radio Astronomy Observatories (NRAO) located in New Mexico, and the recently upgraded Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), located in Australia (to access sources in the far southern sky). We used these facilities to image thermal emission from dust particles in disks at long millimeter wavelengths, where the emission is optically thin and probes the full disk volume, including the inner regions of planet formation that remain opaque at shorter wavelengths. The best resolution obtained with the VLA is comparable to the size scales of the orbits of giant planets in our Solar System (< 10 AU).

Magnetically driven relativistic jets and winds: Exact solutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Contopoulos, J.

1994-01-01

We present self-consistent solutions of the full set of ideal MHD equations which describe steady-state relativistic cold outflows from thin accretion disks. The magnetic field forms a spiral which is anchored in the disk, rotates with it, and accelerates the flow out of the disk plane. The collimation at large distances depends on the total amount of electric current that flows along the jet. We considered various distributions of electric current and derived the result that in straight jets which extend to infinite distances, a strong electric current flows along their axis of symmetry. The asymptotic flow velocities are of the order of the initial rotational velocity at the base of the flow (a few tenths of the speed of light). The solutions are applied to both galactic (small-scale) and extragalactic (large-scale) jets.

Search for and follow-up imaging of subparsec accretion disks in AGN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kondratko, Paul Thomas

We report results of several large surveys for water maser emission among Active Galactic Nuclei with the 100-m Green Bank Telescope and the two NASA Deep Space Network 70-m antennas at Tidbinbilla, Australia and at Robledo, Spain. We detected 23 new sources, which resulted in a 60% increase in the number of then known nuclear water maser sources. Eight new detections show the characteristic spectral signature of emission from an edge-on accretion disk and therefore constitute good candidates for the determination of black hole mass and geometric distance. This increase in the number of known sources has enabled us to reconsider statistical properties of the resulting sample. For the 30 water maser sources with available hard X-ray data, we found a possible correlation between unabsorbed X-ray luminosity (2-10 keV) and total isotropic water maser luminosity of the form L 2-10 0([Special characters omitted.] , consistent with the model proposed by Neufeld et al. (1994) in which X-ray irradiation of molecular accretion disk gas by the central engine excites the maser emission. We mapped for the first time with Very Long Baseline Interferomatey (VLBI) the full extent of the pc-scale accretion disk in NGC 3079 as traced by water maser emission. Positions and line-of-sight velocities of maser emission are consistent with a nearly edge-on pc-scale disk and a central mass of ~ 2 x 10^6 [Special characters omitted.] enclosed within ~ 0.4 pc. Based on the kinematics of the system, we propose that the disk is geometrically-thick, massive, subject to gravitational instabilities, and hence most likely clumpy and star- forming. The accretion disk in NGC 3079 is thus markedly different from the compact, thin, warped, differentially rotating disk in the archetypal maser galaxy NGC 4258. We also detect maser emission at high latitudes above the disk and suggest that it traces an inward extension of the kpc-scale bipolar wide- angle outflow previously observed along the galactic minor axis. We also report the first VLBI map of the pc-scale accretion disk in NGC 3393. Water maser emission in this source appears to follow Keplerian rotation and traces a linear structure between disk radii of 0.36 and ~ 1 pc. Assuming an edge-on disk and Keplerian rotation, the inferred central mass is (3.1±0.2) × 10^7 [Special characters omitted.] enclosed within 0.36±0.02 pc, which corresponds to a mean mass density of ~ 10 8.2 [Special characters omitted.] pc -3 . We also measured with the Green Bank Telescope centripetal acceleration within the disk, from which we infer the disk radius of 0.17±0.02 pc for the maser feature that is located along the line of sight to the dynamical center. This emission evidently occurs much closer to the center than the emission from the disk midline (0.17 vs. 0.36 pc), contrary to the situation in the two archetypal maser systems NGC 4258 and NGC 1068.

Tribo-mechanical properties of thin boron coatings deposited on polished cobalt alloy surfaces for orthopedic applications

PubMed Central

Klepper, C. C.; Williams, J. M.; Truhan, J.J.; Qu, J.; Riester, L.; Hazelton, R. C.; Moschella, J.J.; Blau, P.J.; Anderson, J.P.; Popoola, O.O.; Keitz, M.D.

2008-01-01

This paper presents experimental evidence that thin (<∼200 nm) boron coatings, deposited with a (vacuum) cathodic arc technique on pre-polished Co-Cr-Mo surfaces, could potentially extend the life of metal-on-polymer orthopedic devices using cast Co-Cr-Mo alloy for the metal component. The primary tribological test used a linear, reciprocating pin-on-disc arrangement, with pins made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. The disks were cast Co-Cr-Mo samples that were metallographically polished and then coated with boron at a substrate bias of 500 V and at about 100 °C. The wear tests were carried out in a saline solution to simulate the biological environment. The improvements were manifested by the absence of a detectable wear track scar on the coated metal component, while significant polymer transfer film was detected on the uncoated (control) samples tested under the same conditions. The polymer transfer track was characterized with both profilometry and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy. Mechanical characterization of the thin films included nano-indentation, as well as additional pin-on-disk tests with a steel ball to demonstrate adhesion, using ultra-high frequency acoustic microscopy to probe for any void occurrence at the coating-substrate interface. PMID:19340285

Dust modeling of the combined ALMA and SPHERE datasets of HD 163296. Is HD 163296 really a Meeus group II disk?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muro-Arena, G. A.; Dominik, C.; Waters, L. B. F. M.; Min, M.; Klarmann, L.; Ginski, C.; Isella, A.; Benisty, M.; Pohl, A.; Garufi, A.; Hagelberg, J.; Langlois, M.; Menard, F.; Pinte, C.; Sezestre, E.; van der Plas, G.; Villenave, M.; Delboulbé, A.; Magnard, Y.; Möller-Nilsson, O.; Pragt, J.; Rabou, P.; Roelfsema, R.

2018-06-01

Context. Multiwavelength observations are indispensable in studying disk geometry and dust evolution processes in protoplanetary disks. Aims: We aim to construct a three-dimensional model of HD 163296 that is capable of reproducing simultaneously new observations of the disk surface in scattered light with the SPHERE instrument and thermal emission continuum observations of the disk midplane with ALMA. We want to determine why the spectral energy distribution of HD 163296 is intermediary between the otherwise well-separated group I and group II Herbig stars. Methods: The disk was modeled using the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code MCMax3D. The radial dust surface density profile was modeled after the ALMA observations, while the polarized scattered light observations were used to constrain the inclination of the inner disk component and turbulence and grain growth in the outer disk. Results: While three rings are observed in the disk midplane in millimeter thermal emission at 80, 124, and 200 AU, only the innermost of these is observed in polarized scattered light, indicating a lack of small dust grains on the surface of the outer disk. We provide two models that are capable of explaining this difference. The first model uses increased settling in the outer disk as a mechanism to bring the small dust grains on the surface of the disk closer to the midplane and into the shadow cast by the first ring. The second model uses depletion of the smallest dust grains in the outer disk as a mechanism for decreasing the optical depth at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. In the region outside the fragmentation-dominated regime, such depletion is expected from state-of-the-art dust evolution models. We studied the effect of creating an artificial inner cavity in our models, and conclude that HD 163296 might be a precursor to typical group I sources.

A study of the effects of disk flexibility on the rotordynamics of the space shuttle main engine turbo-pumps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flowers, George T.

1989-01-01

Rotor dynamical analyses are typically performed using rigid disk models. Studies of rotor models in which the effects of disk flexibility were included indicate that is may be an important effect for many systems. This issue is addressed with respect to the Space Shuttle Main Engine high pressure turbo-pumps. Finite element analyses have been performed for a simplified free-free flexible disk rotor model and the modes and frequencies compared to those of a rigid disk model. The simple model was then extended to a more sophisticated HPTOP rotor model and similar results were observed. Equations were developed that are suitable for modifying the current rotordynamical analysis program to account for disk flexibility. Some conclusions are drawn from the results of this work as to the importance of disk flexibility on the HPTOP rotordynamics and some recommendations are given for follow-up research in this area.

Comparison of central axis and jet ring coolant supply for turbine disk cooling on a SSME-HPOTP model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Y. W.; Metzger, D. E.

1992-01-01

The test facility, test methods and results are presented for an experimental study modeling the cooling of turbine disks in the blade attachment regions with multiple impinging jets, in a configuration simulating the disk cooling method employed on the Space Shuttle Main Engine oxygen turbopump. The study's objective was to provide a comparison of detailed local convection heat transfer rates obtained for a single center-supply of disk coolant with those obtained with the present flight configuration where disk coolant is supplied through an array of 19 jets located near the disk outer radius. Specially constructed disk models were used in a program designed to evaluate possible benefits and identify any possible detrimental effects involved in employing an alternate disk cooling scheme. The study involved the design, construction and testing of two full scale rotating model disks, one plane and smooth for baseline testing and the second contoured to the present flight configuration, together with the corresponding plane and contoured stator disks. Local heat transfer rates are determined from the color display of encapsulated liquid crystals coated on the disk in conjunction with use of a computer vision system. The test program was composed of a wide variety of disk speeds, flowrates, and geometrical configurations, including testing for the effects of disk boltheads and gas ingestion from the gas path region radially outboard of the disk-cavity.

The role of the global magnetic field and thermal conduction on the structure of the accretion disks of all models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farahinezhad, M.; Khesali, A. R.

2018-05-01

In this paper, the effects of global magnetic field and thermal conduction on the vertical structure of the accretion disks has been investigated. In this study, four types disks were examined: Gas pressure dominated the standard disk, while radiation pressure dominated the standard disk, ADAF disk, slim disk. Moreover, the general shape of the magnetic field, including toroidal and poloidal components, is considered. The magnetohydrodynamic equations were solved in spherical coordinates using self-similar assumptions in the radial direction. Following previous authors, the polar velocity vθ is non-zero and Trφ was considered as a dominant component of the stress tensor. The results show that the disk becomes thicker compared to the non-magnetic fields. It has also been shown that the presence of the thermal conduction in the ADAF model makes the disk thicker; the disk is expanded in the standard model.

The Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey. V. Statistical Study of Bars and Buckled Bars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhao-Yu; Ho, Luis C.; Barth, Aaron J.

2017-08-01

Simulations have shown that bars are subject to a vertical buckling instability that transforms thin bars into boxy or peanut-shaped structures, but the physical conditions necessary for buckling to occur are not fully understood. We use the large sample of local disk galaxies in the Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey to examine the incidence of bars and buckled bars across the Hubble sequence. Depending on the disk inclination angle (I), a buckled bar reveals itself as either a boxy/peanut-shaped bulge (at high I) or as a barlens structure (at low I). We visually identify bars, boxy/peanut-shaped bulges, and barlenses, and examine the dependence of bar and buckled bar fractions on host galaxy properties, including Hubble type, stellar mass, color, and gas mass fraction. We find that the barred and unbarred disks show similar distributions in these physical parameters. The bar fraction is higher (70%-80%) in late-type disks with low stellar mass (M * < 1010.5 M ⊙) and high gas mass ratio. In contrast, the buckled bar fraction increases to 80% toward massive and early-type disks (M * > 1010.5 M ⊙), and decreases with higher gas mass ratio. These results suggest that bars are more difficult to grow in massive disks that are dynamically hotter than low-mass disks. However, once a bar forms, it can easily buckle in the massive disks, where a deeper potential can sustain the vertical resonant orbits. We also find a probable buckling bar candidate (ESO 506-G004) that could provide further clues to understand the timescale of the buckling process.

Constraints on Black Hole Spin in a Sample of Broad Iron Line AGN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brenneman, Laura W.; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2008-01-01

We present a uniform X-ray spectral analysis of nine type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have been previously found to harbor relativistically broadened iron emission lines. We show that the need for relativistic effects in the spectrum is robust even when one includes continuum "reflection" from the accretion disk. We then proceed to model these relativistic effects in order to constrain the spin of the supermassive black holes in these AGN. Our principal assumption, supported by recent simulations of geometrically-thin accretion disks, is that no iron line emission (or any associated Xray reflection features) can originate from the disk within the innermost stable circular orbit. Under this assumption, which tends to lead to constraints in the form of lower limits on the spin parameter, we obtain non-trivial spin constraints on five AGN. The spin parameters of these sources range from moderate (a approximates 0.6) to high (a > 0.96). Our results allow, for the first time, an observational constraint on the spin distribution function of local supermassive black holes. Parameterizing this as a power-law in dimensionless spin parameter (f(a) varies as absolute value of (a) exp zeta), we present the probability distribution for zeta implied by our results. Our results suggest 90% and 95% confidence limits of zeta > -0.09 and zeta > -0.3 respectively.

Numerical Simulations of Gaseous Disks Generated from Collisional Cascades at the Roche Limits of White Dwarf Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenyon, Scott J.; Bromley, Benjamin C.

2017-11-01

We consider the long-term evolution of gaseous disks fed by the vaporization of small particles produced in a collisional cascade inside the Roche limit of a 0.6 {M}⊙ white dwarf. Adding solids with radius {r}0 at a constant rate {\\dot{M}}0 into a narrow annulus leads to two distinct types of evolution. When {\\dot{M}}0≳ {\\dot{M}}0,{crit}≈ 3× {10}4 {({r}0/1{km})}3.92 {{g}} {{{s}}}-1, the cascade generates a fairly steady accretion disk where the mass transfer rate of gas onto the white dwarf is roughly {\\dot{M}}0 and the mass in gas is {M}g≈ 2.3× {10}22 ({\\dot{M}}0/{10}10 {{g}} {{{s}}}-1) (1500 {{K}}/{T}0) ({10}-3/α ) g, where T 0 is the temperature of the gas near the Roche limit and α is the dimensionless viscosity parameter. If {\\dot{M}}0≲ {\\dot{M}}0,{crit}, the system alternates between high states with large mass transfer rates and low states with negligible accretion. Although either mode of evolution adds significant amounts of metals to the white dwarf photosphere, none of our calculations yield a vertically thin ensemble of solids inside the Roche limit. X-ray observations can place limits on the mass transfer rate and test this model for metallic line white dwarfs.

Analytic Expressions for the Inner-rim Structure of Passively Heated Protoplanetary Disks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ueda, Takahiro; Okuzumi, Satoshi; Flock, Mario, E-mail: t_ueda@geo.titech.ac.jp

We analytically derive the expressions for the structure of the inner region of protoplanetary disks based on the results from the recent hydrodynamical simulations. The inner part of a disk can be divided into four regions: a dust-free region with a gas temperature in the optically thin limit, an optically thin dust halo, an optically thick condensation front, and the classical, optically thick region, in order from the innermost to the outermost. We derive the dust-to-gas mass ratio profile in the dust halo using the fact that partial dust condensation regulates the temperature relative to the dust evaporation temperature. Beyondmore » the dust halo, there is an optically thick condensation front where all the available silicate gas condenses out. The curvature of the condensation surface is determined by the condition that the surface temperature must be nearly equal to the characteristic temperature ∼1200 K. We derive the midplane temperature in the outer two regions using the two-layer approximation, with the additional heating by the condensation front for the outermost region. As a result, the overall temperature profile is step-like, with steep gradients at the borders between the outer three regions. The borders might act as planet traps where the inward migration of planets due to gravitational interaction with the gas disk stops. The temperature at the border between the two outermost regions coincides with the temperature needed to activate magnetorotational instability, suggesting that the inner edge of the dead zone must lie at this border. The radius of the dead zone inner edge predicted from our solution is ∼2–3 times larger than that expected from the classical optically thick temperature.« less

Analytic Expressions for the Inner-rim Structure of Passively Heated Protoplanetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ueda, Takahiro; Okuzumi, Satoshi; Flock, Mario

2017-07-01

We analytically derive the expressions for the structure of the inner region of protoplanetary disks based on the results from the recent hydrodynamical simulations. The inner part of a disk can be divided into four regions: a dust-free region with a gas temperature in the optically thin limit, an optically thin dust halo, an optically thick condensation front, and the classical, optically thick region, in order from the innermost to the outermost. We derive the dust-to-gas mass ratio profile in the dust halo using the fact that partial dust condensation regulates the temperature relative to the dust evaporation temperature. Beyond the dust halo, there is an optically thick condensation front where all the available silicate gas condenses out. The curvature of the condensation surface is determined by the condition that the surface temperature must be nearly equal to the characteristic temperature ˜1200 K. We derive the midplane temperature in the outer two regions using the two-layer approximation, with the additional heating by the condensation front for the outermost region. As a result, the overall temperature profile is step-like, with steep gradients at the borders between the outer three regions. The borders might act as planet traps where the inward migration of planets due to gravitational interaction with the gas disk stops. The temperature at the border between the two outermost regions coincides with the temperature needed to activate magnetorotational instability, suggesting that the inner edge of the dead zone must lie at this border. The radius of the dead zone inner edge predicted from our solution is ˜2-3 times larger than that expected from the classical optically thick temperature.

Concentration Effects of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Degradation Products on Oxygen Reduction Activity for Three Platinum Catalysts

DOE PAGES

Christ, J. M.; Neyerlin, K. C.; Richards, R.; ...

2014-10-04

A rotating disk electrode (RDE) along with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), were used to investigate the impact of two model compounds representing degradation products of Nafion and 3M perfluorinated sulfonic acid membranes on the electrochemical surface area (ECA) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of polycrystalline Pt, nano-structured thin film (NSTF) Pt (3M), and Pt/Vulcan carbon (Pt/Vu) (TKK) electrodes. ORR kinetic currents (measured at 0.9 V and transport corrected) were found to decrease linearly with the log of concentration for both model compounds on all Pt surfaces studied. Ultimately, model compound adsorption effects on ECA weremore » more abstruse due to competitive organic anion adsorption on Pt surfaces superimposing with the hydrogen underpotential deposition (HUPD) region.« less

A methodology for investigating new nonprecious metal catalysts for PEM fuel cells.

PubMed

Susac, D; Sode, A; Zhu, L; Wong, P C; Teo, M; Bizzotto, D; Mitchell, K A R; Parsons, R R; Campbell, S A

2006-06-08

This paper reports an approach to investigate metal-chalcogen materials as catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The methodology is illustrated with reference to Co-Se thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering onto a glassy-carbon substrate. Scanning Auger microscopy (SAM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) have been used, in parallel with electrochemical activity and stability measurements, to assess how the electrochemical performance relates to chemical composition. It is shown that Co-Se thin films with varying Se are active for oxygen reduction, although the open circuit potential (OCP) is lower than for Pt. A kinetically controlled process is observed in the potential range 0.5-0.7 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode) for the thin-film catalysts studied. An initial exposure of the thin-film samples to an acid environment served as a pretreatment, which modified surface composition prior to activity measurements with the rotating disk electrode (RDE) method. Based on the SAM characterization before and after electrochemical tests, all surfaces demonstrating activity are dominated by chalcogen. XRD shows that the thin films have nanocrystalline character that is based on a Co(1-x)Se phase. Parallel studies on Co-Se powder supported on XC72R carbon show comparable OCP, Tafel region, and structural phase as for the thin-film model catalysts. A comparison for ORR activity has also been made between this Co-Se powder and a commercial Pt catalyst.

Monte Carlo simulations of electrical percolation in multicomponent thin films with nanofillers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ni, Xiaojuan; Hui, Chao; Su, Ninghai; Jiang, Wei; Liu, Feng

2018-02-01

We developed a 2D disk-stick percolation model to investigate the electrical percolation behavior of an insulating thin film reinforced with 1D and 2D conductive nanofillers via Monte Carlo simulation. Numerical predictions of the percolation threshold in single component thin films showed good agreement with the previous published work, validating our model for investigating the characteristics of the percolation phenomena. Parametric studies of size effect, i.e., length of 1D nanofiller and diameter of 2D nanofiller, were carried out to predict the electrical percolation threshold for hybrid systems. The relationships between the nanofillers in two hybrid systems was established, which showed differences from previous linear assumption. The effective electrical conductance was evaluated through Kirchhoff’s current law by transforming it into a resistor network. The equivalent resistance was obtained from the distribution of nodal voltages by solving a system of linear equations with a Gaussian elimination method. We examined the effects of stick length, relative concentration, and contact patterns of 1D/2D inclusions on electrical performance. One novel aspect of our study is its ability to investigate the effective conductance of nanocomposites as a function of relative concentrations, which shows there is a synergistic effect when nanofillers with different dimensionalities combine properly. Our work provides an important theoretical basis for designing the conductive networks and predicting the percolation properties of multicomponent nanocomposites.

On the Relative Relevance of Subject-Specific Geometries and Degeneration-Specific Mechanical Properties for the Study of Cell Death in Human Intervertebral Disk Models

PubMed Central

Malandrino, Andrea; Pozo, José M.; Castro-Mateos, Isaac; Frangi, Alejandro F.; van Rijsbergen, Marc M.; Ito, Keita; Wilke, Hans-Joachim; Dao, Tien Tuan; Ho Ba Tho, Marie-Christine; Noailly, Jérôme

2015-01-01

Capturing patient- or condition-specific intervertebral disk (IVD) properties in finite element models is outmost important in order to explore how biomechanical and biophysical processes may interact in spine diseases. However, disk degenerative changes are often modeled through equations similar to those employed for healthy organs, which might not be valid. As for the simulated effects of degenerative changes, they likely depend on specific disk geometries. Accordingly, we explored the ability of continuum tissue models to simulate disk degenerative changes. We further used the results in order to assess the interplay between these simulated changes and particular IVD morphologies, in relation to disk cell nutrition, a potentially important factor in disk tissue regulation. A protocol to derive patient-specific computational models from clinical images was applied to different spine specimens. In vitro, IVD creep tests were used to optimize poro-hyperelastic input material parameters in these models, in function of the IVD degeneration grade. The use of condition-specific tissue model parameters in the specimen-specific geometrical models was validated against independent kinematic measurements in vitro. Then, models were coupled to a transport-cell viability model in order to assess the respective effects of tissue degeneration and disk geometry on cell viability. While classic disk poro-mechanical models failed in representing known degenerative changes, additional simulation of tissue damage allowed model validation and gave degeneration-dependent material properties related to osmotic pressure and water loss, and to increased fibrosis. Surprisingly, nutrition-induced cell death was independent of the grade-dependent material properties, but was favored by increased diffusion distances in large IVDs. Our results suggest that in situ geometrical screening of IVD morphology might help to anticipate particular mechanisms of disk degeneration. PMID:25717471

Radiative Transfer Modeling in Proto-planetary Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasper, David; Jang-Condell, Hannah; Kloster, Dylan

2016-01-01

Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) are rich astronomical research environments. Planets form in circumstellar disks of gas and dust around YSOs. With ever increasing capabilities of the observational instruments designed to look at these proto-planetary disks, most notably GPI, SPHERE, and ALMA, more accurate interfaces must be made to connect modeling of the disks with observation. PaRTY (Parallel Radiative Transfer in YSOs) is a code developed previously to model the observable density and temperature structure of such a disk by self-consistently calculating the structure of the disk based on radiative transfer physics. We present upgrades we are implementing to the PaRTY code to improve its accuracy and flexibility. These upgrades include: creating a two-sided disk model, implementing a spherical coordinate system, and implementing wavelength-dependent opacities. These upgrades will address problems in the PaRTY code of infinite optical thickness, calculation under/over-resolution, and wavelength-independent photon penetration depths, respectively. The upgraded code will be used to better model disk perturbations resulting from planet formation.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jang-Condell, Hannah; Chen, Christine H.; Mittal, Tushar

We analyze spectra obtained with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) of 110 B-, A-, F-, and G-type stars with optically thin infrared excess in the Scorpius–Centaurus OB association. The ages of these stars range from 11 to 17 Myr. We fit the infrared excesses observed in these sources by Spitzer IRS and the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) to simple dust models according to Mie theory. We find that nearly all of the objects in our study can be fit by one or two belts of dust. Dust around lower mass stars appears to be closer in than aroundmore » higher mass stars, particularly for the warm dust component in the two-belt systems, suggesting a mass-dependent evolution of debris disks around young stars. For those objects with stellar companions, all dust distances are consistent with truncation of the debris disk by the binary companion. The gaps between several of the two-belt systems can place limits on the planets that might lie between the belts, potentially constraining the mass and locations of planets that may be forming around these stars.« less

C1 finite elements on non-tensor-product 2d and 3d manifolds

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Thien; Karčiauskas, Kęstutis; Peters, Jörg

2015-01-01

Geometrically continuous (Gk) constructions naturally yield families of finite elements for isogeometric analysis (IGA) that are Ck also for non-tensor-product layout. This paper describes and analyzes one such concrete C1 geometrically generalized IGA element (short: gIGA element) that generalizes bi-quadratic splines to quad meshes with irregularities. The new gIGA element is based on a recently-developed G1 surface construction that recommends itself by its a B-spline-like control net, low (least) polynomial degree, good shape properties and reproduction of quadratics at irregular (extraordinary) points. Remarkably, for Poisson’s equation on the disk using interior vertices of valence 3 and symmetric layout, we observe O(h3) convergence in the L∞ norm for this family of elements. Numerical experiments confirm the elements to be effective for solving the trivariate Poisson equation on the solid cylinder, deformations thereof (a turbine blade), modeling and computing geodesics on smooth free-form surfaces via the heat equation, for solving the biharmonic equation on the disk and for Koiter-type thin-shell analysis. PMID:26594070

C1 finite elements on non-tensor-product 2d and 3d manifolds.

PubMed

Nguyen, Thien; Karčiauskas, Kęstutis; Peters, Jörg

2016-01-01

Geometrically continuous ( G k ) constructions naturally yield families of finite elements for isogeometric analysis (IGA) that are C k also for non-tensor-product layout. This paper describes and analyzes one such concrete C 1 geometrically generalized IGA element (short: gIGA element) that generalizes bi-quadratic splines to quad meshes with irregularities. The new gIGA element is based on a recently-developed G 1 surface construction that recommends itself by its a B-spline-like control net, low (least) polynomial degree, good shape properties and reproduction of quadratics at irregular (extraordinary) points. Remarkably, for Poisson's equation on the disk using interior vertices of valence 3 and symmetric layout, we observe O ( h 3 ) convergence in the L ∞ norm for this family of elements. Numerical experiments confirm the elements to be effective for solving the trivariate Poisson equation on the solid cylinder, deformations thereof (a turbine blade), modeling and computing geodesics on smooth free-form surfaces via the heat equation, for solving the biharmonic equation on the disk and for Koiter-type thin-shell analysis.

Biomechanical influence of disk properties on the load transfer of healthy and degenerated disks using a poroelastic finite element model.

PubMed

Chagnon, Amélie; Aubin, Carl-Eric; Villemure, Isabelle

2010-11-01

Spine degeneration is a pathology that will affect 80% of the population. Since the intervertebral disks play an important role in transmitting loads through the spine, the aim of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical impact of disk properties on the load carried by healthy (Thompson grade I) and degenerated (Thompson grades III and IV) disks. A three-dimensional parametric poroelastic finite element model of the L4/L5 motion segment was developed. Grade I, grade II, and grade IV disks were modeled by altering the biomechanical properties of both the annulus and nucleus. Models were validated using published creep experiments, in which a constant compressive axial stress of 0.35 MPa was applied for 4 h. Pore pressure (PP) and effective stress (S(E)) were analyzed as a function of time following loading application (1 min, 5 min, 45 min, 125 min, and 245 min) and discal region along the midsagittal profile for each disk grade. A design of experiments was further implemented to analyze the influence of six disk parameters (disk height (H), fiber proportion (%F), drained Young's modulus (E(a),E(n)), and initial permeability (k(a),k(n)) of both the annulus and nucleus) on load-sharing for disk grades I and IV. Simulations of grade I, grade III, and grade IV disks agreed well with the available published experimental data. Disk height (H) had a significant influence (p<0.05) on the PP and S(E) during the entire loading history for both healthy and degenerated disk models. Young's modulus of the annulus (E(a)) significantly affected not only S(E) in the annular region for both disk grades in the initial creep response but also S(E) in the nucleus zone for degenerated disks with further creep response. The nucleus and annulus permeabilities had a significant influence on the PP distribution for both disk grades, but this effect occurred at earlier stages of loading for degenerated than for healthy disk models. This is the first study that investigates the biomechanical influence of both geometrical and material disk properties on the load transfer of healthy and degenerated disks. Disk height is a significant parameter for both healthy and degenerated disks during the entire loading. Changes in the annulus stiffness, as well as in the annulus and nucleus permeability, control load-sharing in different ways for healthy and degenerated disks.

Creating Compositionally-Driven Debris Disk Dust Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimmerman, Mara; Jang-Condell, Hannah; Schneider, Glenn; Chen, Christine; Stark, Chris

2018-06-01

Debris disks play a key role in exoplanet research; planetary formation and composition can be inferred from the nature of the circumstellar disk. In order to characterize the properties of the circumstellar dust, we create models of debris disks in order to find the composition. We apply Mie theory to calculate the dust absorption and emission within debris disks. We have data on nine targets from Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescope. The Spitzer data includes mid-IR spectroscopy and photometry. We have spatially-resolved optical and near-IR images of the disks from HST. Our goal is to compare this data to the model. By using a model that fits for photometric and mid-IR datasimultaneously, we gain a deeper understanding of the structure and composition of the debris disk systems.

THE EVOLUTION OF CIRCUMPLANETARY DISKS AROUND PLANETS IN WIDE ORBITS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FORMATION THEORY, OBSERVATIONS, AND MOON SYSTEMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shabram, Megan; Boley, Aaron C.

2013-04-10

Using radiation hydrodynamics simulations, we explore the evolution of circumplanetary disks around wide-orbit proto-gas giants. At large distances from the star ({approx}100 AU), gravitational instability followed by disk fragmentation can form low-mass substellar companions (massive gas giants and/or brown dwarfs) that are likely to host large disks. We examine the initial evolution of these subdisks and their role in regulating the growth of their substellar companions, as well as explore consequences of their interactions with circumstellar material. We find that subdisks that form in the context of GIs evolve quickly from a very massive state. Long-term accretion rates from themore » subdisk onto the proto-gas giant reach {approx}0.3 Jupiter masses kyr{sup -1}. We also find consistency with previous simulations, demonstrating that subdisks are truncated at {approx}1/3 of the companion's Hill radius and are thick, with (h/r) of {approx}> 0.2. The thickness of subdisks draws to question the use of thin-disk approximations for understanding the behavior of subdisks, and the morphology of subdisks has implications for the formation and extent of satellite systems. These subdisks create heating events in otherwise cold regions of the circumstellar disk and serve as planet formation beacons that can be detected by instruments such as ALMA.« less

Anisotropic neutron stars in R2 gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Folomeev, Vladimir

2018-06-01

We consider static neutron stars within the framework of R2 gravity. The neutron fluid is described by three different types of realistic equations of state (soft, moderately stiff, and stiff). Using the observational data on the neutron star mass-radius relation, it is demonstrated that the characteristics of the objects supported by the isotropic fluid agree with the observations only if one uses the soft equation of state. We show that the inclusion of the fluid anisotropy enables one also to employ more stiff equations of state to model configurations that will satisfy the observational constraints sufficiently. Also, using the standard thin accretion disk model, we demonstrate potentially observable differences, which allow us to distinguish the neutron stars constructed within the modified gravity framework from those described in Einstein's general relativity.

Modulated mass-transfer model for superhumps in SU Ursae Majoris stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mineshige, Shin

1988-01-01

The response of a circular accretion disk to rapid modulation of the mass-transfer rate into the disk is explored in order to model superhumps in SU UMa stars. It is proposed that periodically enhanced flow may disrupt or heat up the outer disk and produce the dips noted just before the superhump peaks. The elliptical accretion-disk model with extended vertical disk structure can account for the observed characteristics of superhumps in these stars.

Manganese Abundances in the Stars with Metallicities -1 <[Fe/H]< +0.3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishenina, T.; Gorbaneva, T.; Pignatari, M.; Thielemann, F.-K.; Korotin, S.

2018-01-01

We estimate the Mn abundances in the atmospheres of 247 F-G-K-type dwarf stars belonging to the thin and thick disk populations in the metallicity range -1 < [Fe/H] < +0.3. The observations were conducted using the 1.93 m telescope at Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP, France) equipped with the echelle type spectrographs ELODIE and SOPHIE. The abundances were derived under the LTE approximation; the synthetic spectrum for the Mn lines was computed accounting for the hyperfine structure. Starting from the results obtained, we discuss the evolution of the [Mn/Fe] ratio with respect to [Fe/H] in the galactic disk.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jia, X. L.; Meng, Q. X.; Yuan, C. X.

The visible light broadband perfect absorbers based on the silver (Ag) nano elliptical disks and holes array are studied using finite difference time domain simulations. The semiconducting indium silicon dioxide thin film is introduced as the space layer in this sandwiched structure. Utilizing the asymmetrical geometry of the structures, polarization sensitivity for transverse electric wave (TE)/transverse magnetic wave (TM) and left circular polarization wave (LCP)/right circular polarization wave (RCP) of the broadband absorption are gained. The absorbers with Ag nano disks and holes array show several peaks absorbance of 100% by numerical simulation. These simple and flexible perfect absorbers aremore » particularly desirable for various potential applications including the solar energy absorber.« less

Dust production by collisional grinding during Planetesimal-Driven Migration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salmon, Julien; Walsh, Kevin J.; Levison, Harold F.

2017-10-01

Many main-sequence stars are surrounded by optically thin disks of dust in the absence of any detectable gas (e.g. Su et al. 2006, Meyer et al. 2008). IR and sub-millimeter observations suggest that most of the observed emission comes from grains with sizes between 1-100 microns. Since radiation forces are expected to remove these grains on timescales much shorter than the age of the parent stars (Backman & Parsce 1993, Wyatt 2008), it implies that some process is replenishing the dust, such as collisional grinding. The latter requires large impact velocities between planetesimals, which can be achieved if large objects are dynamically exciting a disk of 1-10km planetesimals. Such debris disks could be hosting ongoing planet formation, and present a powerful tool to test planet formation theories.If a planet is embedded in a gas-free planetesimal disk, the mutual gravitational interactions will force the planet to migrate (e.g. Fernandez & Ip 1984). Planetesimals situated along the direction of migration can be trapped in mean motion resonances (MMRs) with the planet (Malhotra 1993, 1995, Hahn & Malholtra 1999). Planetesimals trapped in such resonances will have their eccentricities pumped to large values as the planet continues to migrate, thereby leading to energetic collisions and dust production (Wyatt 2003, Reche et al. 2008, Mustill & Wyatt 2011).We have performed an extensive suite of simulations in which we explore the likelihood that a given set of disk parameters (mass, surface density slope, number of planetesimals) can sustain planetesimal-driven migration (PDM). We confirm the strong dependence on resolution found in previous works (e.g. Kirsch et al 2009), and find that an embryo to planetesimal mass ratio of 400 is necessary to mitigate the effects of stochasticity, which may cause migration to stall and/or reverse. After having identified disks suitable for sustained PDM, we model their evolution using LIPAD (Levison et al. 2012) taking into account collisional grinding. We will present results on the dust signatures that can be expected from such systems.

Modeling the X-Ray Timing Properties of Cygnus X-1 Caused by Waves Propagating in a Transition Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Misra, R.

2000-02-01

We show that waves propagating in a transition disk can explain the short-term temporal behavior of Cygnus X-1. In the transition-disk model, the spectrum is produced by saturated Comptonization within the inner region of the accretion disk where the temperature varies rapidly with radius. Recently, the spectrum from such a disk has been shown to fit the average broadband spectrum of this source better than that predicted by the soft-photon Comptonization model. Here we consider a simple model in which waves are propagating cylindrically symmetrically in the transition disk with a uniform propagation speed (cp). We show that this model can qualitatively explain (1) the variation of the power spectral density with energy, (2) the hard lags as a function of frequency, and (3) the hard lags as a function of energy for various frequencies. Thus, the transition-disk model can explain the average spectrum and the short-term temporal behavior of Cyg X-1.

Templated electrochemical deposition of zirconia thin films on "recordable CDs.".

PubMed

Yu, Hua-Zhong; Rowe, Aaron W; Waugh, Damien M

2002-11-15

In this paper, we describe a practical method of using gold films constructed from recordable compact disks (CD-Rs) as simple, inexpensive, and micropatterned conductive substrates for the fabrication of inorganic material microstructures. Extending from their application for the fabrication of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) reported recently, bare and SAM-modified CD-R gold substrates have been used for template-directed electrodeposition of zirconia (ZrO2) thin films (i.e., the controlled formation of zirconia thin films on the different areas of the prefabricated, micrometer mountain-valley CD-R gold substrate surfaces). The present results demonstrate that the variation of the functional groups of the selected SAMs combined with electrodynamic control can be very successful to "customize" the formation and microstructure of functional inorganic thin films, which hold promise for modern technological applications.

The Characteristics of an Antibacterial TiAgN Thin Film Coated by Physical Vapor Deposition Technique.

PubMed

Kang, Byeong-Mo; Jeong, Woon-Jo; Park, Gye-Choon; Yoon, Dong-Joo; Ahn, Ho-Geun; Lim, Yeong-Seog

2015-08-01

In this work, we found the characteristics of an antibacterial TiAgN thin film coated on the pure titanium specimen via the physical vapor deposition process (PVD). TiAgN thin films were coated using TiAg alloy targets by arc ion plating method. Changing the process parameters, the surface analysis of TiAgN thin film was observed by FE-SEM and the force of adhesion was measured with Scratch Tester. The proliferation of human gingival fibroblast (HGF) cells was examined by XTT test assay and the antibacterial properties were investigated by culturing Streptococus Mutans (KCTC 3065) using paper disk techniques. At the result of experiment, cytotoxic effects were not found and the antibacterial effects against Streptococus Mutans were appeared over 5 wt% TiAgN specimens.

Tribological characteristics of sputtered Au/Cr films on alumina substrates at elevated temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benoy, P. A.; Dellacorte, C.

1993-01-01

Research to evaluate the tribological properties of alumina pins sliding against thin sputtered gold films deposited on alumina disk substrates is described. A 250 A thick chromium interlayer was first deposited onto the alumina test disks to enhance adhesion and high temperature wetting of the gold films. The Au/Cr films were tribotested in pure sliding in a pin-on-disk tribometer under a 4.9 N load at 1m/s. The test atmosphere was room air at temperatures of 25, 500, and 800 C and the test duration varied from 60 to 540 min. The use of the Au/Cr films reduced friction by about a factor of two compared to the unlubricated alumina sliding couple. The coatings prevented wear of the alumina substrate disks and reduced pin wear by one to two orders of magnitude. In addition, wear lives in excess of 200,000 sliding passes (9 hr) were observed during sliding at 800 C. The results suggest that these films show promise for the practical lubrication of many high temperature sliding components.

Means and method for nonuniform poling of piezoelectric transducers

DOEpatents

Hsu, D.K.; Margetan, F.J.; Hasselbusch, M.D.; Wormley, S.J.; Hughes, M.S.; Thompson, D.O.

1990-10-09

An apparatus and method are disclosed for nonuniform poling of piezoelectric transducers includes machining one or more indentation into an end of a piezoelectric rod and cutting the rod to present a thickened disk shape. Highly electrically conductive material is deposited on at least the indentations in the one end and on at least portions of the opposite face of the member. One or more electrodes are configured to matingly fit within the indentations on the one face of the disk, with a like number of electrodes being positionable on the opposite face of the material. Electrical power is then applied to the electrodes in desired amounts, polarity, and duration. The indentations vary the electrical field produced within the piezoelectric material to produce nonuniform poling in the material. The thick disk is then cut to remove the indentations and to present a thin, flat two sided disk for installation in a conventional piezoelectric transducer probe. The indentations are selected to produce poling in accordance with desired transducer response profiles such as Gaussian or Bessel functions. 14 figs.

Implications of the Corotation Theorem on the MRI in Axial Symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montani, G.; Cianfrani, F.; Pugliese, D.

2016-08-01

We analyze the linear stability of an axially symmetric ideal plasma disk, embedded in a magnetic field and endowed with a differential rotation. This study is performed by adopting the magnetic flux function as the fundamental dynamical variable, in order to outline the role played by the corotation theorem on the linear mode structure. Using some specific assumptions (e.g., plasma incompressibility and propagation of the perturbations along the background magnetic field), we select the Alfvénic nature of the magnetorotational instability, and, in the geometric optics limit, we determine the dispersion relation describing the linear spectrum. We show how the implementation of the corotation theorem (valid for the background configuration) on the linear dynamics produces the cancellation of the vertical derivative of the disk angular velocity (we check such a feature also in the standard vector formalism to facilitate comparison with previous literature, in both the axisymmetric and three-dimensional cases). As a result, we clarify that the unstable modes have, for a stratified disk, the same morphology, proper of a thin-disk profile, and the z-dependence has a simple parametric role.

Powder Metallurgy Fabrication of Molybdenum Accelerator Target Disks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lowden, Richard Andrew; Kiggans Jr., James O.; Nunn, Stephen D.

2015-07-01

Powder metallurgy approaches for the fabrication of accelerator target disks are being examined to support the development of Mo-99 production by NorthStar Medical Technologies, LLC. An advantage of powder metallurgy is that very little material is wasted and, at present, dense, quality parts are routinely produced from molybdenum powder. The proposed targets, however, are thin wafers, 29 mm in diameter with a thickness of 0.5 mm, with very stringent dimensional tolerances. Although tooling can be machined to very high tolerance levels, the operations of powder feed, pressing and sintering involve complicated mechanisms, each of which affects green density and shrinkage,more » and therefore the dimensions and shape of the final product. Combinations of powder morphology, lubricants and pressing technique have been explored to produce target disks with minimal variations in thickness and little or no distortion. In addition, sintering conditions that produce densities for optimum target dissolvability are being determined.« less

Tribological properties of Ag/Ti films on Al2O3 ceramic substrates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dellacorte, Christopher; Pepper, Stephen V.; Honecy, Frank S.

1991-01-01

Ag solid lubricant films, with a thin Ti interlayer for enhanced adhesion, were sputter deposited on Al2O3 substrate disks to reduce friction and wear. The dual Ag/Ti films were tested at room temperature in a pin-on-disk tribometer sliding against bare, uncoated Al2O3 pins under a 4.9 N load at a sliding velocity of 1 m/s. The Ag/Ti films reduced the friction coefficient by 50 percent to about 0.41 compared to unlubricated baseline specimens. Pin wear was reduced by a factor of 140 and disk wear was reduced by a factor of 2.5 compared to the baseline. These films retain their good tribological properties including adhesion after heat treatments at 850 C and thus may be able to lubricate over a wide temperature range. This lubrication technique is applicable to space lubrication, advanced heat engines, and advanced transportation systems.

A submicron device to rectify a square-wave angular velocity.

PubMed

Moradian, A; Miri, M F

2011-02-01

We study a system composed of two thick dielectric disks separated by a thin layer of an electrolyte solution. Initially both plates have the same surface charge distribution. The surface charge distribution has no rotational symmetry. We show that the top plate experiences a torque [Formula: see text]([Formula: see text]) if it rotates about its axis by an angle [Formula: see text] . The torque can be controlled by varying the electrolyte concentration, the separation and the surface charge density of the plates. For a specific example of charged rods attached to the plates, we find [Formula: see text]([Formula: see text]) [Formula: see text] sin(4[Formula: see text]) . We also study the dynamics of the system. We consider the case where the angular velocity of the bottom disk is a square-wave signal. We find that the average angular velocity of the top disk is not zero.

Edge-facet pumped, multi-aperture, thin-disk laser geometry for very high average power output scaling

DOEpatents

Zapata, Luis E.

2004-12-21

The average power output of a laser is scaled, to first order, by increasing the transverse dimension of the gain medium while increasing the thickness of an index matched light guide proportionately. Strategic facets cut at the edges of the laminated gain medium provide a method by which the pump light introduced through edges of the composite structure is trapped and passes through the gain medium repeatedly. Spontaneous emission escapes the laser volume via these facets. A multi-faceted disk geometry with grooves cut into the thickness of the gain medium is optimized to passively reject spontaneous emission generated within the laser material, which would otherwise be trapped and amplified within the high index composite disk. Such geometry allows the useful size of the laser aperture to be increased, enabling the average laser output power to be scaled.

Hydrodynamic Studies of Turbulent AGN Tori

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schartmann, M.; Meisenheimer, K.; Klahr, H.; Camenzind, M.; Wolf, S.; Henning, Th.; Burkert, A.; Krause, M.

Recently, the MID-infrared Interferometric instrument (MIDI) at the VLTI has shown that dust tori in the two nearby Seyfert galaxies NGC 1068 and the Circinus galaxy are geometrically thick and can be well described by a thin, warm central disk, surrounded by a colder and fluffy torus component. By carrying out hydrodynamical simulations with the help of the TRAMP code (Klahr et al. 1999), we follow the evolution of a young nuclear star cluster in terms of discrete mass-loss and energy injection from stellar processes. This naturally leads to a filamentary large scale torus component, where cold gas is able to flow radially inwards. The filaments join into a dense and very turbulent disk structure. In a post-processing step, we calculate spectral energy distributions and images with the 3D radiative transfer code MC3D Wolf (2003) and compare them to observations. Turbulence in the dense disk component is investigated in a separate project.

Source of the Kerr-Newman solution as a gravitating bag model: 50 years of the problem of the source of the Kerr solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burinskii, Alexander

2016-01-01

It is known that gravitational and electromagnetic fields of an electron are described by the ultra-extreme Kerr-Newman (KN) black hole solution with extremely high spin/mass ratio. This solution is singular and has a topological defect, the Kerr singular ring, which may be regularized by introducing the solitonic source based on the Higgs mechanism of symmetry breaking. The source represents a domain wall bubble interpolating between the flat region inside the bubble and external KN solution. It was shown recently that the source represents a supersymmetric bag model, and its structure is unambiguously determined by Bogomolnyi equations. The Dirac equation is embedded inside the bag consistently with twistor structure of the Kerr geometry, and acquires the mass from the Yukawa coupling with Higgs field. The KN bag turns out to be flexible, and for parameters of an electron, it takes the form of very thin disk with a circular string placed along sharp boundary of the disk. Excitation of this string by a traveling wave creates a circulating singular pole, indicating that the bag-like source of KN solution unifies the dressed and point-like electron in a single bag-string-quark system.

Accretion Disks and the Formation of Stellar Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kratter, Kaitlin Michelle

2011-02-01

In this thesis, we examine the role of accretion disks in the formation of stellar systems, focusing on young massive disks which regulate the flow of material from the parent molecular core down to the star. We study the evolution of disks with high infall rates that develop strong gravitational instabilities. We begin in chapter 1 with a review of the observations and theory which underpin models for the earliest phases of star formation and provide a brief review of basic accretion disk physics, and the numerical methods that we employ. In chapter 2 we outline the current models of binary and multiple star formation, and review their successes and shortcomings from a theoretical and observational perspective. In chapter 3 we begin with a relatively simple analytic model for disks around young, high mass stars, showing that instability in these disks may be responsible for the higher multiplicity fraction of massive stars, and perhaps the upper mass to which they grow. We extend these models in chapter 4 to explore the properties of disks and the formation of binary companions across a broad range of stellar masses. In particular, we model the role of global and local mechanisms for angular momentum transport in regulating the relative masses of disks and stars. We follow the evolution of these disks throughout the main accretion phase of the system, and predict the trajectory of disks through parameter space. We follow up on the predictions made in our analytic models with a series of high resolution, global numerical experiments in chapter 5. Here we propose and test a new parameterization for describing rapidly accreting, gravitationally unstable disks. We find that disk properties and system multiplicity can be mapped out well in this parameter space. Finally, in chapter 6, we address whether our studies of unstable disks are relevant to recently detected massive planets on wide orbits around their central stars.

DETERMINATION OF CENTRAL ENGINE POSITION AND ACCRETION DISK STRUCTURE IN NGC 4261 BY CORE SHIFT MEASUREMENTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haga, Takafumi; Doi, Akihiro; Murata, Yasuhiro

2015-07-01

We report multifrequency phase-referenced observations of the nearby radio galaxy NGC 4261, which has prominent two-sided jets, using the Very Long Baseline Array at 1.4–43 GHz. We measured radio core positions showing observing frequency dependences (known as “core shift”) in both approaching jets and counterjets. The limit of the core position as the frequency approaches infinity, which suggests a jet base, is separated by 82 ± 16 μas upstream in projection, corresponding to (310 ± 60)R{sub s} (R{sub s}: Schwarzschild radius) as a deprojected distance, from the 43 GHz core in the approaching jet. In addition, the innermost component atmore » the counterjet side appeared to approach the same position at infinity of the frequency, indicating that cores on both sides are approaching the same position, suggesting a spatial coincidence with the central engine. Applying a phase-referencing technique, we also obtained spectral index maps, which indicate that emission from the counterjet is affected by free–free absorption (FFA). The result of the core shift profile on the counterjet also requires FFA because the core positions at 5–15 GHz cannot be explained by a simple core shift model based on synchrotron self-absorption (SSA). Our result is apparently consistent with the SSA core shift with an additional disk-like absorber over the counterjet side. Core shift and opacity profiles at the counterjet side suggest a two-component accretion: a radiatively inefficient accretion flow at the inner region and a truncated thin disk in the outer region. We proposed a possible solution about density and temperature profiles in the outer disk on the basis of the radio observation.« less

Experimental dynamic characterizations and modelling of disk vibrations for HDDs.

PubMed

Pang, Chee Khiang; Ong, Eng Hong; Guo, Guoxiao; Qian, Hua

2008-01-01

Currently, the rotational speed of spindle motors in HDDs (Hard-Disk Drives) are increasing to improve high data throughput and decrease rotational latency for ultra-high data transfer rates. However, the disk platters are excited to vibrate at their natural frequencies due to higher air-flow excitation as well as eccentricities and imbalances in the disk-spindle assembly. These factors contribute directly to TMR (Track Mis-Registration) which limits achievable high recording density essential for future mobile HDDs. In this paper, the natural mode shapes of an annular disk mounted on a spindle motor used in current HDDs are characterized using FEM (Finite Element Methods) analysis and verified with SLDV (Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer) measurements. The identified vibration frequencies and amplitudes of the disk ODS (Operating Deflection Shapes) at corresponding disk mode shapes are modelled as repeatable disturbance components for servo compensation in HDDs. Our experimental results show that the SLDV measurements are accurate in capturing static disk mode shapes without the need for intricate air-flow aero-elastic models, and the proposed disk ODS vibration model correlates well with experimental measurements from a LDV.

Accretion Disk Spectra of the Ultra-luminous X-ray Sources in Nearby Spiral Galaxies and Galactic Superluminal Jet Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor); Ebisawa, Ken; Zycki, Piotr; Kubota, Aya; Mizuno, Tsunefumi; Watarai, Ken-ya

2003-01-01

Ultra-luminous Compact X-ray Sources (ULXs) in nearby spiral galaxies and Galactic superluminal jet sources share the common spectral characteristic that they have unusually high disk temperatures which cannot be explained in the framework of the standard optically thick accretion disk in the Schwarzschild metric. On the other hand, the standard accretion disk around the Kerr black hole might explain the observed high disk temperature, as the inner radius of the Kerr disk gets smaller and the disk temperature can be consequently higher. However, we point out that the observable Kerr disk spectra becomes significantly harder than Schwarzschild disk spectra only when the disk is highly inclined. This is because the emission from the innermost part of the accretion disk is Doppler-boosted for an edge-on Kerr disk, while hardly seen for a face-on disk. The Galactic superluminal jet sources are known to be highly inclined systems, thus their energy spectra may be explained with the standard Kerr disk with known black hole masses. For ULXs, on the other hand, the standard Kerr disk model seems implausible, since it is highly unlikely that their accretion disks are preferentially inclined, and, if edge-on Kerr disk model is applied, the black hole mass becomes unreasonably large (greater than or approximately equal to 300 Solar Mass). Instead, the slim disk (advection dominated optically thick disk) model is likely to explain the observed super- Eddington luminosities, hard energy spectra, and spectral variations of ULXs. We suggest that ULXs are accreting black holes with a few tens of solar mass, which is not unexpected from the standard stellar evolution scenario, and their X-ray emission is from the slim disk shining at super-Eddington luminosities.

Uncovering the Detailed Structure and Dynamics of Andromeda's Complex Stellar Disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorman, Claire; Guhathakurta, Puragra; Seth, Anil; Dalcanton, Julianne; Widrow, Larry; Splash Team, Phat Team

2015-01-01

Lambda cold dark matter (LCDM) cosmology predicts that the disks of Milky Way-mass galaxies should have undergone at least one merger with a large (mass ratio 1:10) satellite in the last several Gyr. However, the stellar disk in the solar neighborhood of the Milky Way is too thin and dynamically cold to have experienced such an impact. The dynamics of the nearby Andromeda galaxy can serve as a second data point, and help us understand whether the Milky Way may simply have had an unusually quiescent merger history, or whether LCDM theory needs to be revisited. Over the last few years, we have carried out a detailed study of the resolved stellar populations in the disk of the Andromeda galaxy using data from two surveys: six-filter Hubble Space Telescope photometry from the recently-completed Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey, and radial velocities derived from Keck/DEIMOS optical spectra obtained as part of the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar Halo (SPLASH) program. These detailed, multidimensional data sets allow us to decouple the structural subcomponents and characterize them individually. We find that an old, dynamically hot (velocity dispersion ~150 km/s) RGB population extends out to 20 kpc (the edge of the visible disk) but has a disk-like surface brightness profile and luminosity function. This population may have originated in the disk but been kicked out subsequently in impacts with satellite galaxies. We also study the kinematics of the disk as a function of the age of stellar tracers, and find a direct correlation between age and velocity dispersion, indicating that Andromeda has undergone a continuous heating or disk settling process throughout its lifetime. Overall, both the velocity dispersion of Andromeda's disk and the slope of the velocity dispersion vs. stellar age curve are several times those of the Milky Way's, suggesting a more active merger history more in line with LCDM cosmological predictions.This research was funded by grants from the NSF and NASA/STScI.

Structure and dynamics of Andromeda's stellar disk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorman, Claire Elise

2015-10-01

Lambda cold dark matter (LambdaCDM) cosmology predicts that the disks of Milky Way-mass galaxies should have undergone at least one merger with a large (mass ratio 1:10) satellite in the last several Gyr. However, the stellar disk in the solar neighborhood of the Milky Way is too thin and dynamically cold to have experienced such an impact. The dynamics of the nearby Andromeda galaxy can serve as a second data point, and help us understand whether the Milky Way may simply have had an unusually quiescent merger history, or whether LambdaCDM theory needs to be revisited. Over the last few years, we have carried out a detailed study of the resolved stellar populations in the disk of the Andromeda galaxy using data from two surveys: six-filter Hubble Space Telescope photometry from the recently-completed Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey, and radial velocities derived from Keck/DEIMOS optical spectra obtained as part of the Spectroscopic and Photometric Landscape of Andromeda's Stellar 0Halo (SPLASH) program. These detailed, multidimensional data sets allow us to decouple the structural subcomponents and characterize them individually. We find that an old, dynamically hot (velocity dispersion 150 km/s) RGB population extends out to 20 kpc (the edge of the visible disk) but has a disk-like surface brightness profile and luminosity function. This population may have originated in the disk but been kicked out subsequently in impacts with satellite galaxies. We also study the kinematics of the disk as a function of the age of stellar tracers, and find a direct correlation between age and velocity dispersion, indicating that Andromeda has undergone a continuous heating or disk settling process throughout its lifetime. Overall, both the velocity dispersion of Andromeda's disk and the slope of the velocity dispersion vs. stellar age curve are several times those of the Milky Way's, suggesting a more active merger history more in line with LambdaCDM cosmological predictions.

Numerical Simulations of Wind Accretion in Symbiotic Binaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Val-Borro, M.; Karovska, M.; Sasselov, D.

2009-08-01

About half of the binary systems are close enough to each other for mass to be exchanged between them at some point in their evolution, yet the accretion mechanism in wind accreting binaries is not well understood. We study the dynamical effects of gravitational focusing by a binary companion on winds from late-type stars. In particular, we investigate the mass transfer and formation of accretion disks around the secondary in detached systems consisting of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) mass-losing star and an accreting companion. The presence of mass outflows is studied as a function of mass-loss rate, wind temperature, and binary orbital parameters. A two-dimensional hydrodynamical model is used to study the stability of mass transfer in wind accreting symbiotic binary systems. In our simulations we use an adiabatic equation of state and a modified version of the isothermal approximation, where the temperature depends on the distance from the mass losing star and its companion. The code uses a block-structured adaptive mesh refinement method that allows us to have high resolution at the position of the secondary and resolve the formation of bow shocks and accretion disks. We explore the accretion flow between the components and formation of accretion disks for a range of orbital separations and wind parameters. Our results show the formation of stream flow between the stars and accretion disks of various sizes for certain orbital configurations. For a typical slow and massive wind from an AGB star the flow pattern is similar to a Roche lobe overflow with accretion rates of 10% of the mass loss from the primary. Stable disks with exponentially decreasing density profiles and masses of the order 10-4 solar masses are formed when wind acceleration occurs at several stellar radii. The disks are geometrically thin with eccentric streamlines and close to Keplerian velocity profiles. The formation of tidal streams and accretion disks is found to be weakly dependent on the mass loss from the AGB star. Our simulations of gravitationally focused wind accretion in symbiotic binaries show the formation of stream flows and enhanced accretion rates onto the compact component. We conclude that mass transfer through a focused wind is an important mechanism in wind accreting interacting binaries and can have a significant impact on the evolution of the binary itself and the individual components.

Galactic Spiral Shocks with Thermal Instability in Vertically Stratified Galactic Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Chang-Goo; Kim, Woong-Tae; Ostriker, Eve C.

2010-09-01

Galactic spiral shocks are dominant morphological features and believed to be responsible for substructure formation within spiral arms in disk galaxies. They can also contribute a substantial amount of kinetic energy to the interstellar gas by tapping the (differential) rotational motion. We use numerical hydrodynamic simulations to investigate dynamics and structure of spiral shocks with thermal instability (TI) in vertically stratified galactic disks, focusing on environmental conditions (of heating and the galactic potential) similar to the Solar neighborhood. We initially consider an isothermal disk in vertical hydrostatic equilibrium and let it evolve subject to interstellar cooling and heating as well as a stellar spiral potential. Due to TI, a disk with surface density Σ0 >= 6.7 M sun pc-2 rapidly turns to a thin dense slab near the midplane sandwiched between layers of rarefied gas. The imposed spiral potential leads to a vertically curved shock that exhibits strong flapping motions in the plane perpendicular to the arm. The overall flow structure at saturation is comprised of the arm, postshock expansion zone, and interarm regions that occupy typically 10%, 20%, and 70% of the arm-to-arm distance, in which the gas resides for 15%, 30%, and 55% of the arm-to-arm crossing time, respectively. The flows are characterized by transitions from rarefied to dense phases at the shock and from dense to rarefied phases in the postshock expansion zone, although gas with too-large postshock-density does not undergo this return phase transition, instead forming dense condensations. If self-gravity is omitted, the shock flapping drives random motions in the gas, but only up to ~2-3 km s-1 in the in-plane direction and less than 2 km s-1 in the vertical direction. Time-averaged shock profiles show that the spiral arms in stratified disks are broader and less dense compared to those in unstratified models, and that the vertical density distribution is overall consistent with local effective hydrostatic equilibrium. Inclusion of self-gravity increases the dense gas fraction by a factor of ~2 and raises the in-plane velocity dispersion to ~5-7 km s-1. When the disks are massive enough, with Σ0 >= 5 M sun pc-2, self-gravity promotes formation of bound clouds that repeatedly collide with each other in the arm and break up in the postshock expansion zone.

Optimization of Sensing and Feedback Control for Vibration/Flutter of Rotating Disk by PZT Actuators via Air Coupled Pressure

PubMed Central

Yan, Tianhong; Xu, Xinsheng; Han, Jianqiang; Lin, Rongming; Ju, Bingfeng; Li, Qing

2011-01-01

In this paper, a feedback control mechanism and its optimization for rotating disk vibration/flutter via changes of air-coupled pressure generated using piezoelectric patch actuators are studied. A thin disk rotates in an enclosure, which is equipped with a feedback control loop consisting of a micro-sensor, a signal processor, a power amplifier, and several piezoelectric (PZT) actuator patches distributed on the cover of the enclosure. The actuator patches are mounted on the inner or the outer surfaces of the enclosure to produce necessary control force required through the airflow around the disk. The control mechanism for rotating disk flutter using enclosure surfaces bonded with sensors and piezoelectric actuators is thoroughly studied through analytical simulations. The sensor output is used to determine the amount of input to the actuator for controlling the response of the disk in a closed loop configuration. The dynamic stability of the disk-enclosure system, together with the feedback control loop, is analyzed as a complex eigenvalue problem, which is solved using Galerkin’s discretization procedure. The results show that the disk flutter can be reduced effectively with proper configurations of the control gain and the phase shift through the actuations of PZT patches. The effectiveness of different feedback control methods in altering system characteristics and system response has been investigated. The control capability, in terms of control gain, phase shift, and especially the physical configuration of actuator patches, are also evaluated by calculating the complex eigenvalues and the maximum displacement produced by the actuators. To achieve a optimal control performance, sizes, positions and shapes of PZT patches used need to be optimized and such optimization has been achieved through numerical simulations. PMID:22163788

Coatings for Oxidation and Hot Corrosion Protection of Disk Alloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nesbitt, Jim; Gabb, Tim; Draper, Sue; Miller, Bob; Locci, Ivan; Sudbrack, Chantal

2017-01-01

Increasing temperatures in aero gas turbines is resulting in oxidation and hot corrosion attack of turbine disks. Since disks are sensitive to low cycle fatigue (LCF), any environmental attack, and especially hot corrosion pitting, can potentially seriously degrade the life of the disk. Application of metallic coatings are one means of protecting disk alloys from this environmental attack. However, simply the presence of a metallic coating, even without environmental exposure, can degrade the LCF life of a disk alloy. Therefore, coatings must be designed which are not only resistant to oxidation and corrosion attack, but must not significantly degrade the LCF life of the alloy. Three different Ni-Cr coating compositions (29, 35.5, 45wt. Cr) were applied at two thicknesses by Plasma Enhanced Magnetron Sputtering (PEMS) to two similar Ni-based disk alloys. One coating also received a thin ZrO2 overcoat. The coated samples were also given a short oxidation exposure in a low PO2 environment to encourage chromia scale formation. Without further environmental exposure, the LCF life of the coated samples, evaluated at 760C, was less than that of uncoated samples. Hence, application of the coating alone degraded the LCF life of the disk alloy. Since shot peening is commonly employed to improve LCF life, the effect of shot peening the coated and uncoated surface was also evaluated. For all cases, shot peening improved the LCF life of the coated samples. Coated and uncoated samples were shot peened and given environmental exposures consisting of 500 hrs of oxidation followed by 50 hrs of hot corrosion, both at 760C). The high-Cr coating showed the best LCF life after the environmental exposures. Results of the LCF testing and post-test characterization of the various coatings will be presented and future research directions discussed.

Optimization of sensing and feedback control for vibration/flutter of rotating disk by PZT actuators via air coupled pressure.

PubMed

Yan, Tianhong; Xu, Xinsheng; Han, Jianqiang; Lin, Rongming; Ju, Bingfeng; Li, Qing

2011-01-01

In this paper, a feedback control mechanism and its optimization for rotating disk vibration/flutter via changes of air-coupled pressure generated using piezoelectric patch actuators are studied. A thin disk rotates in an enclosure, which is equipped with a feedback control loop consisting of a micro-sensor, a signal processor, a power amplifier, and several piezoelectric (PZT) actuator patches distributed on the cover of the enclosure. The actuator patches are mounted on the inner or the outer surfaces of the enclosure to produce necessary control force required through the airflow around the disk. The control mechanism for rotating disk flutter using enclosure surfaces bonded with sensors and piezoelectric actuators is thoroughly studied through analytical simulations. The sensor output is used to determine the amount of input to the actuator for controlling the response of the disk in a closed loop configuration. The dynamic stability of the disk-enclosure system, together with the feedback control loop, is analyzed as a complex eigenvalue problem, which is solved using Galerkin's discretization procedure. The results show that the disk flutter can be reduced effectively with proper configurations of the control gain and the phase shift through the actuations of PZT patches. The effectiveness of different feedback control methods in altering system characteristics and system response has been investigated. The control capability, in terms of control gain, phase shift, and especially the physical configuration of actuator patches, are also evaluated by calculating the complex eigenvalues and the maximum displacement produced by the actuators. To achieve a optimal control performance, sizes, positions and shapes of PZT patches used need to be optimized and such optimization has been achieved through numerical simulations.

THE SPITZER c2d SURVEY OF WEAK-LINE T TAURI STARS. III. THE TRANSITION FROM PRIMORDIAL DISKS TO DEBRIS DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wahhaj, Zahed; Cieza, Lucas; Koerner, David W.

2010-12-01

We present 3.6 to 70 {mu}m Spitzer photometry of 154 weak-line T Tauri stars (WTTSs) in the Chamaeleon, Lupus, Ophiuchus, and Taurus star formation regions, all of which are within 200 pc of the Sun. For a comparative study, we also include 33 classical T Tauri stars which are located in the same star-forming regions. Spitzer sensitivities allow us to robustly detect the photosphere in the IRAC bands (3.6 to 8 {mu}m) and the 24 {mu}m MIPS band. In the 70 {mu}m MIPS band, we are able to detect dust emission brighter than roughly 40 times the photosphere. These observationsmore » represent the most sensitive WTTSs survey in the mid- to far-infrared to date and reveal the frequency of outer disks (r = 3-50 AU) around WTTSs. The 70 {mu}m photometry for half the c2d WTTSs sample (the on-cloud objects), which were not included in the earlier papers in this series, those of Padgett et al. and Cieza et al., are presented here for the first time. We find a disk frequency of 19% for on-cloud WTTSs, but just 5% for off-cloud WTTSs, similar to the value reported in the earlier works. WTTSs exhibit spectral energy distributions that are quite diverse, spanning the range from optically thick to optically thin disks. Most disks become more tenuous than L{sub disk}/L{sub *} = 2 x 10{sup -3} in 2 Myr and more tenuous than L{sub disk}/L{sub *} = 5 x 10{sup -4} in 4 Myr.« less